I 



THE WONDERS OF 
THE REVELATION OF 
JESUS CHRIST 



BEING AN EXPOSITORY TREATMENT OF THE 
CLOSING BOOK OF THE BIBLE, IN WHICH THE 
HISTORY OF THE FULFILLMENT OF ITS 
PROPHECIES AND "WONDERFUL SYM- 
BOLICAL FORECASTS ARE DEFI- 
NITELY, LOGICALLY AND 
CONSISTENTLY LOCATED, 
TREATED AND 
EXPLAINED. 



BY 

WILLIAM RUBLE, 

Author of ** Letters to the Jews and Gentiles*" 











CINCINNATI, O, 

THE STANDARD PUBLISHING CO., 

Publishers of Christian Literature. 





THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Cores Received 

MAY 31 1901 

COFYRIGHT ENTRv 

CLASS Cl/XXc. No. 
COPY 3. 



Cop3rright, 1901, by 
The Standard Publishing Company. 



•'^LESSED IS HE THAT READS, AND 
THEY THAT HEAR THE WORDS OP THE 
PROPHECY, AND KEEP THE THINGS 
WHICH ARE WRITTEN THEREIN." 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE. 

Preliminary to the Revelation Which God Gave Unto His 



Son Jesus Christ, to Show Unto His Servants 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Date and Circumstances 11 

CHAPTER III. 

John's Introduction to the Prophecy 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

Letters to the Seven Churches , 21 

CHAPTER V. 

The Throne in Heaven and the Seven Seals « 29 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Seventh Seal and First Pour Trumpets. ... * 40 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Fifth Trumpet 53 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Sixth Trumpet Sounds 62 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Angel with the Little Book 70 

CHAPTER X. 

Measuring the Temple, Etc 74 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Seventh Trumpet 84 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Woman Clothed with the Sun— The Dragon Ill 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Other Symbolical Beasts 118 



v 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PAGE. 

The Fall of Babylon, and Harvest op the World 145 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Seven Vials 151 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Woman Arrayed in Scarlet 162 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Reflections Upon the Foreknowledge and Purposes of God 
in Regard to the Great Apostasy 174 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Marriage of the Lamb 183 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The First Resurrection 204 

CHAPTER XX. 

A New Heaven and a New Earth 217 

CHAPTER XXI. 
A Friendly Address to Roman Catholics 229 

Closing Exhortation 261 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The author of the following work has favored me 
with the privilege of perusing it in manuscript. The 
ability displayed by him in his " Letters to Jews and 
Gentiles " has prepared me to expect a volume charac- 
terized by originality and power, and my anticipations 
have been fully realized. The work is not the produc- 
tion of an unskilled hand. Its author is no wild, f anai>- 
ical visionary, but a man of extensive reading, of deep 
thought, and of sober and matured convictions. His 
work exhibits a remarkable familiarity with Holy Scrip- 
ture, and a happy exegetical skill. 'No intelligent reader 
can fail to be interested and instructed by its perusal — 
and this notwithstanding he may feel disposed in some 
places to question its conclusions. Indeed, no one who 
is at all familiar with the voluminous literature to 
which the Apocalypse has given rise, would expect at 
this late day to find in any new production a uniform 
reflection of his own views. Nor is this important. 
It is enough for us to read such production with care, 
and to weigh its arguments and reasons with unbiased 
candor. Possibly the very shock of surprise which we 
experience here and there as we go on, may serve to 
rouse the intellect to livelier interest and deeper study. 
The present work, however it may agree in general with 
the better class of sober and conservative commentators, 
is by no means a rehash of any previous production, but 

Tii 



Vlll 



INTRODUCTORY. 



a new and valuable exposition of a portion of Scrip- 
ture whose wonderful symbolism becomes every year, 
with the overflowing of the stream of time, more and 
more interesting. 

I have to add that there is apparent nowhere in 
the present volume any effort at fine writing. Indeed, 
the author is often careless in the choice of his words, 
and indifferent to the graces of style; but he never 
fails to set forth his meaning with distinct clearness, 
nor to support his conclusions by pertinent and forcible 
reasons. I heartily commend the work to all earnest 
and devout students of Prophecy and Eschatology. 

J. S. Lamar. 



PREFATORY. 



In presenting this little volume to the candid and 
considerate reader for his perusal, I have no apology 
to offer; others have written and published their views 
upon this wonderful revelation of God, and I claim 
for myself the same freedom of will. 

In perusing the efforts of others in their attempts 
to unfold those sublime mysteries, I have often been 
pained to see the irreverent manner in which they 
sometimes deal with its God-given truths, and fondly 
hoped that the time would come in which some one 
of the children of God would favor us with a volume 
more honoring to God and instructive to man. As to 
whether or not I have succeeded in producing the ideal 
volume, will be left to the more mature judgment of 
the candid reader. 

I do not deem it necessary that I trouble at any 
length over the fact that I do not always quote 
the Scripture as it appears in the versions in common 
use. It is lamentable that in the various theological 
schools of our day many Bible words and phrases are 
by imagination stretched far beyond their legitimate 
meaning. The word " Calvary " (Luke xxiii. 33) 
we are wont to celebrate in literature and song as 
" Mount Calvary/' whereas, in fact, it is a misnomer ; 
there is not, and never was, any such a mountain. 
Also the Greek word Christos (" to anoint ") is wholly 

ix 



X 



PREFATORY. 



transferred, instead of being translated, as it ought to 
be, in the four Gospels. 

The controversy between Jesus and the scribes and 
Pharisees was not as to whether he was personally 
called " Christ " or " the Christ/' but as to whether 
or not he was the anointed of God, understood. Hence 
the thought in Peter's confession was not as to whether 
he was named " Christ," but that he was " the anointed 
Son of the living God." Again: " Fear not: for, be- 
hold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall 
be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the 
city of David a Saviour, who is the anointed Lord" 
(Luke ii. 10, 11). Likewise the word "grace" has, 
in modern theology, become attenuated beyond its 
proper meaning, which is simply favor; hence " the 
grace of God " is naught but the favor of God. The 
same is true of the word " blasphemy," which means 
simply reproach. To blaspheme God is to reproach 
God, etc. 

I trust the reader will never have occasion to say that 
I have varied the text to accommodate or to prove my 
own private opinion; but I have tried, in the fear of 
God, in some instances to make the thoughts of the 
inspired writer more plain to the common reader. You 
will notice, too, that I have not indulged in what is 
commonly called fine writing, nor in high-sounding 
words hard of comprehension. I have ever kept in 
mind Paul's admonition that " it is better to speak fine 
words to the understanding of those who hear, than 
ten thousand words beyond their comprehension." 



PREFATORY. 



xi 



Therefore I have chosen to write out my reflections 
in the common, everyday language of the common peo« 
pie, being conscious of the fact that what is made 
plain to the unlearned and to babes ought to be com- 
prehended by the more cultured and prudent. 

I therefore submit this little volume to the con- 
siderate reader as bread cast upon the waters, hoping 
that, by its perusal and the help of God, he may derive 
a better understanding of this great Book of Revela- 
tion, and thereby deepen his reverence, expand his love, 
and strengthen his faith in the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

William Ruble, Author. 

Salem, Ore. 



THE WONDEHS OF THE REVELATION 
Of JESUS CHSIST. 



CHAPTEE L 

PRELIMINARY- TO THE REVELATION WHICH GOD GAVE 
UNTO HIS SON JESUS CHRTST, TO SHOW 
UNTO HIS SERVANTS. 

In attempting to write a book explanatory of this 
revelation, the author is fully aware of the great respon- 
sibility which he assumes. Neither is he ignorant of 
the numerous attempts that have been made by various 
authors to unfold the mysterious symbols of this closing 
revelation of God to man. Some of those authors de- 
serve no consideration whatever. Many of them are 
well written and entertaining, and doubtless some of 
them correctly interpret certain parts of the book; but, 
taken as a whole, they are in utter confusion by dealing 
in imagination rather than facts, which tends to be- 
wilder rather than enlighten the inquirer after divine 
truth. 

All of these authors, in their opening on chapter i., 
unhesitatingly declare that the unfolding of a revela- 
tion, to be shown, heard, read and kept in mind so as 
to confer a blessing, ought to be understood by those 
who hear, read and keep the things revealed therein. 
They then assure us that those things therein written 



2 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



were intended by the author to be understood, and that 
they themselves are now going to unfold those hith- 
erto hidden mysteries. They are disposed to make us 
believe that all we have to do is to sit at their feet 
and listen to their remarkable unfolding. Yet, when 
we compare their efforts with others of like nature, 
we are forced to doubt the correctness of their conclu- 
sions. I am not willing to say that I question their 
honesty, though this doubtless might and should be 
said of several of them. Some cf these authors are 
also very positive that they hold the key to these mys- 
teries, and can bring out in clear light the truth which 
God, for wise reasons, has clothed in symbols. Per- 
haps it would be going beyond all reason to assume 
that any uninspired man can correctly interpret all the 
symbols. There is one particular caution advanced 
in this book that is not obscured by symbols, that all 
would-be expositors should bear constantly in mind, 
the non-observance of which entails ruin; it is found 
in chapter xxii. 18, 19, and reads as follows: "I tes- 
tify unto every man that hears the words of the proph- 
ecy of this book, that if any man shall add unto these 
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are 
written in this book: and if any man shall take away 
from the words of this book of prophecy, God shall take 
away his part out of the book of life, and out of the 
holy city, and from the things that are written in this 
book." While I think these two verses were thrown 
in as a flaming sword to guard the purity of the text, 
I also think that any person who wilfully and per- 
sistently adds to or takes from the legitimate meaning 



KEVELATIOST OF JESUS CHRIST. 



3 



of these things, so as to pervert them, is in danger cf 
the same condemnation. 

I sometimes think that Christians would have been 
better off had uninspired man never attempted to unfold 
the mysteries of this book, for in that case the serv- 
ants of the Lord would have read the book with ad- 
miration of its grand scenery, and gathered strength 
from its holy and heaven-inspiring promises, and 
would have understood it about as well as if no line of 
comment had marred its fair pages. 

But here the reader will want to ask me why I pro- 
pose to write another book explanatory of this great 
book£ I answer that there has been so much written 
and said concerning these things in books and lectures 
that is manifestly wrong and misleading that the time, 
in my judgment, has come when the servants of the 
Lord should seek to clear away the smoke by insisting 
upon a common-sense interpretation of this precious 
revelation. 

It is acknowledged on all hands that much of this 
book is clothed in symbols, and is therefore difficult of 
interpretation. This is readily granted, but we ought 
to consider why God thus gave the book. A proper 
solution of this question will largely equip us to dis- 
tinguish between the literal and symbolical parts of this 
revelation. I think we may safely assume that only 
such parts of this revelation are clothed in symbol as 
were necessary to blind the actors with reference to 
their identky and the several parts they were to act out 
in the fulfilment of this symbolical history of the great 
and wicked apostasy, so they would not and could not 



4 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



take any steps to thwart these revelations of God. 
This is exactly analogous to God's having given the 
sufferings of Christ largely in type by Moses, so as to 
blind the eyes of Israel that they were not aware they 
were killing the true passover lamb when they crucified 
the Lord J esus. As it is written : " Which none of the 
princes of this world knew : for had they known it, they 
would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 

That we may understand this clearer and better, 
we will take an example from Rev. xiii. 7, 8. It reads : 
" It was given unto him to make war with the saints, 
and to overcome them : and power was given him over 
all kindreds, tongues, and nations. And all that 
dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names 
are not written in the Lamb's book of life." Here 
the pronoun " him " refers to the beast of verse 1, that 
had seven heads and ten horns. In this case the 
power referred to is clothed in symbol, so that from 
this alone we could not possibly tell what person or 
power was meant, whether imperial Rome, pagan 
Rome, Catholic Rome, the Greek Empire or Mahom- 
etan power; so that, whichever one was meant by the 
symbol could not tell whether he or it was intended, 
and, as a consequence, would make no effort to thwart 
the prophecy as God gave it. But the declaration in 
the seventh verse, that he would make war with the 
saints, is not obscured by symbol. Though the word 
" war " is without doubt figurative, and might mean 
physical force or intellectual force, yet it would neces- 
sarily mean a collision or a variance in which, as ex- 
plained farther on, the beast overcomes the people of 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



5 



God. It can not, therefore, mean intellectual force on 
the part of the beast, but physical force, for, as to intel- 
lectual force, no power on earth ever has, can, or will 
overcome the people of God. Jesus said : " I will give 
you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversa- 
ries can gainsay nor resist." 

Again, " power was given him [the beast] over all 
kindreds, tongues, and nations." This is not obscure 
language, and I presume that " power " here means 
about what is indicated in verse 8 ; that is, the worship 
or adoring the power of this beast — submissive to its 
will, doing its bidding. It surely means this, because 
the writer proceeds to say : " They worshiped the 
beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able 
to war with him?" (verse 4) — said by those whose names 
are not written in the Lamb's booh of life (verse 8). 

It is evident, then, that nothing in these two verses 
is obscured but the antecedent of the personal pronoun 
" him " ; that all the rest is to be understood by the same 
rules of interpretation that govern ordinary language. 
Here, then, we have three words the meaning of which 
is purposely and necessarily obscured by symbol, while 
we have over fifty other words in these two verses that 
are not obscured. This example, I trust, will enable 
us to determine closely as to what is symbolic and what 
is not so intended. I hope the reader will bear this 
in mind as we proceed. 

A SHORT ANALYSIS OF THIS BOOK. 

In all the epistolary writings of the apostles, save 
only Hebrews, the Spirit of God, that moved the pens 
of those writers, is careful to inform us who the writer 







THE WONDEES OE THE 



is, so that we may know for ourselves whether the 
writer was a chosen ambassador of God or not. This 
Book of Kevelation is no exception ; we are assured that 
the writer is the beloved apostle John. And its 
opening introdnction is laden with a divine royalty 
far surpassing the thunders of Mt. Sinai, and natu- 
rally leads us to look for an unfolding of a revelation 
truly sublime and far-reaching in importance. God, 
in the beginning of his revelation to man, discloses to 
him his origin. There is, therefore, nothing more rea- 
sonable than to suppose that if God has. determined that 
man shall have a future destiny, this closing book of 
his revelation to man shall, in part, reveal his future 
state — its glories to them who are worthy of it, and the 
extreme degradation and woe of those who make them- 
selves unworthy. 

The book is naturally divided into several divisions. 
The first division gives the Lord's admonition and in- 
struction to seven churches in proconsular Asia. Being 
specially adapted to these seven congregations, it does 
not reach beyond them, except as other congregations 
throughout the world are guilty of like practices. 

The fourth chapter begins another division sublimel 
grand in its introduction, with the great God as a cent, al 
figure, who holds the keys of the future destiny of the 
church and the world in his right hand, which he passes 
over to his Son, Jesus, the Christ, who is found worthy 
to break the seals thereof and reveal some prevailing 
conditions in our earth till the sixth seal is opened 
(vi. 12-17), which disclose the second coming of our 
Lord and the terrible consternation that seizes the 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



1 



wicked when they behold the great day of the Lord's 
wrath has come. Chapter vii. gives the exemptions 
from this day of wrath, and the happy condition of the 
Lord's favored ones when he comes. 

Chapter viii. gives us a pause, and then introduces 
the history of the blast of the seven trumpets, the first 
six of which — as I read the symbols — are concerned 
with the various steps by which the imperial empire of 
Rome in its two divisions was overthrown. Chapters 
x. and xi., to and including the fourteenth verse, intro- 
duce matters intervening and preparatory to the great 
events which are to occur when the seventh trumpet is 
sounded, which brings us the second time to the second 
coming of our Lord, when the announcement is made 
that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom 
of the Lord's anointed — the rewarding and the judg- 
ment of the righteous dead, and the destruction of the 
wicked. 

The fourth division begins with the twelfth chap- 
ter, which goes back to the beginning of the Church of 
Christ and its early conflicts with imperial pagan Rome, 
under the symbol of the dragon with seven heads and ten 
horns, and the dragon's failure ; while chapter xiii. 1-7 
gives another beast, this time, if I read the symbols 
aright, imperial Christian Rome (east and west). To 
this power the dragon transfers its power and its throne. 

Out of imperial Christian Rome, after one division 
is wounded by the sword, another beast comes up. This 
time, if I am correct, this fellow with two horns is the 
Roman Catholic power, and it is this power that con- 
structs the image of imperial Rome, and forces it to 



8 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



the front under Gregory the Great and his immediate 
successors, who, under Pepin and Charlemagne, assume 
imperial power and authority and command, on pain of 
death that their imperial power shall be respected. This 
same chapter gives the rise of this apostate power, and 
largely outlines its work down to the time when the art 
of printing introduced a new order of things, indicated 
by the symbol of an angel flying in mid-heaven with 
the proclamation of the everlasting gospel (xiv. 6, 7), 
realized, as I suppose, by the Bible societies in printing 
and circulating the Bible in every land and nation un- 
der heaven. 

Following this is the announcement that " Babylon 
is fallen." Babylon, as I read the symbols, is that great 
apostasy adumbrated in chapter xiii. 11-18. Its fall 
begins with the circulation of the Bible, and is con- 
cluded in xiv. 18-20. Verse 14 brings us up the third 
time to the coming of the Son of man, this time to reap 
the earth of its inhabitants. 

At the close of chapter xiv., John pauses and takes 
up the various steps leading up to the final overthrow 
of this great apostasy, beginning with the first vial of 
God's wrath, which produces a grievous sore and much 
pain to the worshipers of the beast and his image 
(xvi. 1), the time of Luther and his contemporary re- 
formers ; while the fifth vial is poured out directly upon 
the throne of the beast, causing the shades of approach- 
ing night to fall upon its power and authority. The 
sixth affects the Turkish Empire, if I read the symbols 
aright. Next follows the combined spiritual strength 
of paganism, Mahometanism and Catholicism, in a final 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

struggle for the mastery in the great day of God Al- 
mighty, leading on to the great battle of Armageddon. 

Having arrived at this point, John again pauses to 
give us more minutely the outlines of the great apostasy 
under the symbol of Babylon the great, in chapter xvii., 
at and near the closing throes of her dissolution, fol- 
lowed by her funeral in chapter xviii. 

Chapter xix. opens with a great rejoicing in heaven 
and among the saints over the fall and ruin of the spir- 
itual mistress of all iniquity (verses 1-6). Verses 
?-9 disclose another happy time, in prospect of the 
immediate reunion of the Lord and his people, here 
celebrated as the marriage supper of the Lamb of 
God. Verses 11-16 give the glorious attire of the 
Bridegroom going forth as a mighty conqueror to fight 
his last battle, which is outlined in verses 19-21. 

We are next informed that the source of all in- 
iquity is staunched for a thousand years (xx. 1-3). 
From verses 4-6 we have the happy state of the right- 
eous dead resurrected to life and reigning with their 
Lord for a thousand years, inheriting the kingdom pre- 
pared for them from before the foundation of the world. 

Shortly after the close of this happy period we reach 
the close of man upon the earth. The whole race of 
man is here reckoned with. It is the great day of judg- 
ment. The righteous receive their eternal reward in 
bliss, and the wicked their eternal doom. The last ene- 
my (death) is here destroyed, and the Son of God 
delivers up the kingdom to God his Father, and God be- 
comes all in all. Here the redeemed enter upon a new 
life in a new world, a forecast of which we have in 



10 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



chapter xxi. 1-5. Then follows an exhortation from 
God himself to his people, to be faithful so as to reap 
the reward he has in store for them, with a correspond- 
ing threat of woe hurled against the ungodly, followed 
by a more minute description of the abode of the right- 
eous and its attendant glory. 

In chapter xxii. 1, 2 is a symbolical river of life 
flowing from God and the Lamb. This river nourishes 
the tree of life, whose medicinal leaves are for the 
healing of the nations — from sin, of course. This sym- 
bolical river has its source as stated, and flows out thence 
into all the world. Its first waters tasted by man were : 
" In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be 
blessed." As time passes on, month by month, the river 
becomes deeper, till the Sun of righteousness arises with 
healing in his wings, when it becomes impassable. No 
one can pass beyond it, but all may eat of the fruit of 
the tree of life that is nourished thereby, if they will. 
This is followed by a few promises and admonitions, and 
closes with John's petition for the Lord to come. 



CHAPTER II. 



DATE AND CIRCUMSTANCES. 

Some expositors of the Book of Revelation consider 
it a consecutive history of political and religious events 
from the time John wrote the book to the close of hu- 
manity. But such can not be the fact, because we find 
that John, in chapter vi. 12-17, gives us nearly exactly 
the same imagery that the Lord Jesus gives us in Mat- 
thew xxiv. 29-31, which the Lord tells us is connected 
with his second coming. (See, also, Mark xiii. 24-26; 
Luke xxi. 25-27.) And it can not be a consecutive his- 
tory, because Revelation xi. 15 brings us again to the 
second coming of the Son of God, with his installation 
as King over all the world, the same as Daniel vii. 
13, 14, while Revelation xi. 1 again finds the Lamb 
of God on Mt. Zion. And verses 14 and 15 certainly 
bring up the scenes described by our Lord in the para- 
ble of the tares in the field (Matt. xiii. 30, 40, 41). 

Chapter xvi. 17-21 must indicate the closing scenes 
when oui Lord comes, while evidently chapter xix. 
11-21 must bring us again to the scene of our Lord's 
second advent. There are, then, six different times that 
John brings us down to the second coming of Christ, 
while much of the intervening history (as in chapters 
xii. and xiii.) really begins far back of the second ad- 
vent — thence, down to that point, none of the imagery 
running beyond that point till we reach the twentieth 
chapter. So it can not be consecutive history. 



12 



THE WONDERS OP THE 



Again, some of the expositors find in this hook, as 
they think, far too many of these scenes fulfilled in secu- 
lar history, some of them too trivial in their nature and 
hearing upon the people of God, to merit a place in 
prophecy. The means hy which the imperial Roman 
Empire was overthrown, and the change from secular 
imperial Rome to imperial ecclesiastical Rome accom- 
plished, we would expect to find in vivid colors in this 
hook. But it would never do to ignore these things, and 
fix upon modern events of no practical importance to 
the church. 

Again it is claimed hy some that the Book of Reve- 
lation is wholly new; that none of the things therein 
mentioned ever appeared in prophecy "before. Hence, 
in writing a hook explanatory of the contents of this 
book, no reference, whatever is made to any previous 
prophecies concerning the same things. It is certain 
that the same great apostasy described in Revelation 
xiii. and xvii. is referred to by Daniel in chapter vii, 
as " the little horn of the fourth beast," and by Paul (IT, 
Thess. ii.) as the " man of sin." Others make too much 
of modern events, and fancy that a passage proves noth- 
ing if it does not establish some whim of their doctrine. 

I have read some dozen or more books that assume 
to interpret this book and its symbols, and in some in- 
stances the darker and more obscure the symbol is, the 
more positive are they that they are able accurately to 
unfold the hidden mystery. Martin made this mistake 
about the utterances of the seven thunders, and B. W. 
Johnson about the little open book of Revelation x. But 
of all the wild visionaries since the days of Baron Swe 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 1'A 

denborg, I think the Second Adventists are entitled to 
bear the palm. 

I sometimes think it would have been better had I 
never read any authors on this book. But I may un- 
consciously have arrived at some important facts that 
may crop out in this work, which I would not have 
thought of had I not been reading this literature. Cer- 
tain it is, that I will be more strongly fortified against 
some of the errors that have appeared. Having said 
this much, I need not consume more time in this way, 
but shall proceed at once to call the attention of my 
readers to the contents of this great 

BOOK OF REVELATION. 

It is hardly necessary for me to waste time in fixing 
the date when this book was written. The paramount 
fact is that it was written, and written by the apostle 
John, and by inspiration of God, of which I trust we 
shall find much convincing and edifying proof before 
we dose this work. The usual date given is A. D. 96, 
which is very agreeable to my mind. 

The early history of the Fathers of the church in- 
forms us that after the destruction of the Jewish na- 
tion by Titus (A. D. 70) the apostle John took charge 
of the church at Ephesus, which was close to the Egean 
Sea, some six hundred miles northwest of Jerusalem, 
and the metropolis of proconsular. Asia. The tradi- 
tion was that the seven churches of Asia addressed in 
this letter were somewhat dependent upon John for in- 
struction and guidance in the Christian life; and as 
Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Laodicea, Thyatira and 
Philadelphia all lay close around Ephesus, it is quite 



14 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



probable th'ey all looked up to him as children would to 
a loved and venerable father. He is supposed, too, to 
have been banished from Ephesus by Domitian, who 
was then emperor of Rome, during his bloody persecu- 
tions of the Christians. 

The little, rocky island called Patmos was some 
twenty-five miles from the coast, near which Ephesus 
was situated. On this island, while solitary and alone, 
and perhaps bothered with the thought that the rulers 
of this world were very wicked men, who did not, or 
would not, appreciate the great blessing which the gos- 
pel invited them to accept — at some such gloomy and 
melancholy hour as this, John, who was in the Spirit, 
was suddenly startled by a " great voice " behind him, 
which said, " I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and 
the ]ast : write what you see, in a book, and send it unto 
the seven churches which are in Asia ; to Ephesus, Per- 
gamos," etc. (17-20). This glorious scene, and the im- 
pressive message which accompanied it, command our 
attention and reverence, and stand forth as a sublime 
introduction to the heavenly scenes and messages that 
follow. Whether the actor in the vision is the very 
person of the Son of God, or this angel of verse 1, sent 
by him to show these things unto John, the message is 
delivered in the name of Jesus, who was dead and is 
alive, and it comes, within the scope of " God speaking 
unto us by his Son" (Heb. i. 1). 

It is not, therefore, our right or privilege to sit in 
judgment upon the things revealed in this book, but 
we may and should try to understand the things which 
the Lord herein reveals unto us. But as to what those 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



15 



symbols which the book contains may mean, when ap- 
plied to the history of the church or the world, from 
the day they were delivered to John till now, we will 
necessarily have our opinions. And those opinions will 
vary more or less, some of them being mere fancy, and 
some of them reasonable, and apparently well estab- 
lished by facts. Some of these symbolical facts, as I 
have already said, are hidden from the knowledge of the 
actors, so the revelation of them would not interfere 
with the actions of those who, as God knew, would fill 
the measure of the things indicated. 

To make the matter very plain to the common reader, 
for whose benefit I write, I will say that a symbol gen- 
erally carries some points of resemblance to the substance 
or action of the reality to which it refers. If the reader 
will turn to the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, he will 
find there what is commonly called the parable of the 
sower. This sower symbolizes the Lord Jesus. The seed 
sown by the farmer in the parable may be wheat, which 
symbolizes the word of God sown or preached by the 
Lord Jesus, etc. Now, it is plain that one could not 
have guessed what the sower and the seed sown symbol- 
ized till the Lord explained it to his disciples. Then 
the whole parable becomes clear — can be understood. 
Now, the symbols of this Book of Kevelation are to be 
understood in the same way. We must first have the 
key and then it can all be understood. In the sublime 
scene now before us, the Lord gives us two symbols 
— the " seven stars " and " the seven golden candle- 
sticks." We would hardly have known what these sym- 
bolized had not the Lord explained that the seven stars 



16 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



were the messengers of the seven churches, and that 
" the seven golden candlesticks were the seven churches." 
This is not the first time in Bible history that stars are 
used as a symbol of efficient ministers or leaders. Dan- 
iel says that " they who turn many to righteousness shall 
shine as the stars for ever and ever " (Dan. xii. 3). 
Neither is it the first time that the candlestick or lamp is 
vised in the sense the Saviour uses it. In Matthew v. 
14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city set 
upon a hill can not be hid. . Men do not light a candle 
and place a bushel over it, but they place it upon a can- 
dlestick, that it may give light to all who are in the 
house. Let your light so shine before men, that they 
may see your good deeds, and glorify your Father who 
is in heaven." From these premises we can easily com- 
prehend the symbol of the seven stars and of the seven 
candlesticks, or lights, and what the Saviour had a right 
to expect of these seven churches. 



CHAPTER III. 



JOHN'S INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHECY. 
Revelation i. 1-20. 

I am now ready to proceed with a more general 
analysis of the Book of Revelation. John says it is 
" the Revelation which God gave unto J esus Christ, to 
show unto his servants the things which must shortly 
come to pass ; and he sent and signified his angel unto 
his servant J ohn : who bare witness to the word of God, 
and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all he saw. 
Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words 
of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written 
therein: for the time is at hand " (Rev. i. 1-3). 

This is John's preliminary introduction, showing 
(1) from whence the message came; (2) how and by 
whom it was given; (3) that it was given to one of the 
Lord's servants — to his apostle John, his beloved dis- 
ciple; (4) that it is a faithful record of what he saw 
and heard; (5) that the message is so important that it 
will minister a blessing to him that hears and remem- 
bers it, and heeds its counsel. 

He next proceeds to inform us that it contains a 
special message to the seven churches, and was to be de- 
livered into their custody. He says : " John to the seven 
churches which are in Asia: Favor and peace be unto 
you, from him who is, and was, and is to come ; and 
from the seven Spirits which are before his throne ; and 
from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, and the first 



18 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the 
earth. Unto him that loved us, and freed us from our 
sins by his own blood, and has made us kings and priests 
to God his Father ; to him be the glory and dominion for 
ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he comes with the 
clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they who 
pierced him : and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn 
because of him" (verses 4-7). This part of John's 
introduction is grand, sublime and glorious, and culmi- 
nates in the certain second coming of the Lord, and 
the manner of his coming — " in the clouds " (same as 
Dan. vii. 13) — and that when he does come, "every 
eye shall see him'' and there shall be great mourning 
to them who are not prepared for his coming. " The 
faithful witness," the truth of the message, the re- 
demption that is in him, and the present and pros- 
pective exaltation of his redeemed servants, are all 
set forth with a master hand. 

He next tells us that he is our " brother in afflic- 
tions and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus 
Christ ;" that he was then in the Island of Patmos, " for 
the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus;" that 
he was " in the Spirit in the day of the Lord, and 
heard a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What you 
see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches 99 
(verses 9-11). He then names these seven churches, 
which will hereafter appear as he addresses them. 
John is humble and modest; he does not even tell 
them he is their pastor or that he is an apostle of tho 
Lord; he simply addresses them as their " brother in 
affliction and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus." 



REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 



19 



The Lord, then, of course had a kingdom — a spir- 
itual kingdom — because he did not have a temporal 
kingdom ; he told Pilate he did not have a worldly king- 
dom. His rule and reign are in the hearts of his sub- 
jects, and move others till he comes again. He was 
also in Spirit in the day of the Lord. I do not think 
the common versions give the thought of the apostle. 
I do not think the first day of the week was called the 
Lord's day at that early period, nor for two or three 
centuries thereafter. Nor do I think it was ever so 
called by inspiration. I am sure Komans xiv. 5, 6 
would imply that it could not be so called by inspira- 
tion ; because that Scripture certainly gives every d i zi- 
ple the privilege of respecting any day he thought he 
ought, or not to give any day the preference, but esteem 
every day alike. But the early Christians did undoubt- 
edly meet on that day for worship ; not, as I think, be- 
cause it was commanded, but because of its associations, 
as the Lord certainly rose from the dead on the first day 
of the week, and the Holy Spirit was first given on 
this day, and the first great ingathering into the church 
was on the same day — the day of Pentecost. 

After John heard this great voice he turned around 
to see from whence the voice came that spoke to him, 
and he says : " I saw seven golden candlesticks [or 
lamps] ; and in the midst of these lamps I saw one like 
the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the 
foot, and girt about the breast with a golden girdle. 
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as 
snow ; and his eyes were like a flame of fire ; and his feet 
like burnished brass, burning in a furnace; and th-3 



20 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



sound of his voice as the roar of much water. And 
he held seven stars in his right hand : and out of his 
mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his 
countenance was as the sun shining in its strength " 
(verses 12-16). This was a sublime and awe-inspiring 
sight, and overpowered John so that he fell prostrate 
as one dead. 

Then the Lord laid his right hand upon him and 
said : " Fear not ; I am the first and the last : was dead, 
but am alive; and, behold, I live for evermore; and I 
have the keys of death and of hades. Write therefore 
the things you have seen, and the things that are, and 
the things which shall be hereafter; . . . The seven 
stars you saw in my right hand are the messengers of 
the seven churches ; and the seven lamps are the seven 
churches" (verses 11-20). 

It should be remembered here that J ohn saw this sub- 
lime person in the midst of these seven golden lamps, 
which, as explained, are the seven churches which are 
named. Of course this impresses us with the fact that 
the Lord was cognizant of all their acts, as we will see 
is the fact when we examine his instructions to these 
seven individual churches. And we ought to know that 
as he noted all their actions, so he does those of all hU 
other churches and the individual members thereof. 
And we are also told he " holds the keys of death and 
of hades," and of course, in due time, he will open the 
unseen world and bring out its captives. 



CHAPTEK IV. 

LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 
Revelation ii., hi. 

We are now ready to hear from John what the 
Lord has to say to the seven churches or congregations 
of his followers: 

EPHESUS. 

" Unto the messenger/' or chief manager in this 
congregation, " write ; These things says he who holds 
the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the 
midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know your 
works, and your labor, and patience, and how you can 
not bear them who are evil: and you have tried them 
who say they are apostles, but are not, and have found 
them liars: and how you have borne in patience, and 
for my name's sake have labored, and not fainted. But, 
notwithstanding, I have somewhat against you: you 
have left yonr first love. Remember therefore from 
whence you have fallen, and repent [turn], and do 
your first works ; or else I will come unto you quickly, 
and remove your candlestick out of its place, except 
you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds 
of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that has an 
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the 
churches; To him that overcomes I will give to eat of 
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of 
God" (Kev. ii. 1-7). 

There is but little need of explanation here ; nearly 
every Christian of long experience knows what it is to 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



let his first love for the Lord and his cause cool down. 
I am not talking about those who are gradually sliding 
away from the faith, but about such faithful Chris- 
tians as the Lord finds here at Ephesus, who seem to 
have advanced in faith and good works, but have suf- 
fered their first love to cool down. 

But our Lord does not confine his admonition to 
the church at Ephesus. He says : " He that has an ear, 
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." 
The exhortation, then, comes to you and me, and every 
ether disciple of the Lord. Have we (any or all of us) 
left our first love? If so, let us repent and return to 
that first sweet affection which we felt in the warm 
glow of our hearts when we laid hold of the hope set 
before us. 

SMYRNA. 

" Unto the angel [or messenger] of the church at 
Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the 
last, who was dead, and is alive: I know your tribula- 
tion and your poverty (but you are rich), and the 
reproach of them who say they are Jews, and are not, 
but are of the synagogue of Satan. Fear not the 
things you are to suffer: behold, the devil will cast 
some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and 
you will have tribulation ten days: be faithful unto 
death, and I will give you a crown of life. He who 
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the 
churches; He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the 
second death" (Rev. ii. 8-11). 

Those Jews who were troubling this church, alleg- 
ing they were Jews, etc., were, as we must suppose, 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 2 3 

t ews according to the flesh, but were not the spiritual 
seed of Abraham so as to be Jews indeed, and, as was 
the custom of the Jews of the times, were insisting 
upon the brethren at Smyrna seeking justification 
by observing the law of Moses; hence the reproof the 
Lord gives them. The ten days of tribulation are 
probably ten years, as it contemplates an imprisonment 
and death. 

TERGAMOS. 

" To this church says he who has the sharp two-edged 
sword: I know where you dwell, even where Satan is 
enthroned: you have held fast my name, and have not 
denied my faith, even in the days wherein Antipas, my 
faithful witness, was slain among you, where Satan 
dwells. But I have a few things against you, because 
you have some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who 
taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the chil- 
dren of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and 
to commit fornication. So also you have some who 
hold the teaching of the Nicolaitanes. Repent there- 
fore; or else I will come unto you quickly, and I will 
make war upon them with the sword of my mouth. . . . 
To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden 
manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the 
stone a new name written, which no one knows save 
him who receives it" (Rev. ii. 12-17). 

It is not exactly clear in Numbers xxiv. and xxv. 
as to what advice Balaam did give Balak, but tradition 
has it that he advised Balak to live on friendly terms 
with Israel and to intermarry with them. And from 
what the Saviour here says, we suppose it is true. 



24 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



This led to idolatry, as we learn from Numbers xxv., 
and other lewd practices, as the Saviour here indicates. 
It is quite likely, therefore, that some in this church 
were insisting on the harmless practice of marrying 
idolatrous wives and husbands, which at that time were 
abundant. What the Mcolaitanes' doctrine was, I do 
not know. 

THYATIEA. 

" These things says the Son of God, who has his eye 
like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass ; I know 
your works, and your love, faith, ministry and pa- 
tience, and that your last is greater than the first. But 
I have this against you, that you suffer that woman 
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and 
seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat 
things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her space to 
repent of her fornication; but she repented not. Be- 
hold, I will cast her, and those who commit fornication 
with her, into a great bed of affliction, except they 
repent of their work. And I will kill her children with 
pestilence; and all the churches shall know that I am 
he who searches the heart and reins: and I will give 
each of you according to his work. But to you I say, 
and to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have 
not this doctrine, and who know not the deceit of 
Satan, as they speak; I will lay upon you no greater 
burthen than to hold fast till I come. To him that 
overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him 
will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule 
them with a rod of iron, by which the vessels of a 
potter are broken to pieces: even as I have received 



ftEVELATIOK OF JEStJS CHRIST. 



25 



of my Father. And I will give him the morning star " 
(Rev. ii. 18-28). 

There are several things commendable here, and sev- 
eral defects pointed out. It is remarkable here that 
the Saviour should use the name of Jezebel as a symbol 
of similar conduct practiced by some woman, or women, 
who assumed to teach in this church. This svmbol 
(Jezebel) is drawn from the wife of Ahab, king 
of Israel, who, as we learn in I. Kings xviii., fed at her 
own table four hundred and fifty false prophets who 
seduced Israel, and when Elijah had abated the nui- 
sance she was mad and threatened to take the life of 
the prophet. Instead, therefore, of repenting, she re- 
solved to do worse. This seems to be the way of this 
symbolical woman at Thyatira. The Lord gave her 
space to repent, but she repented not. Therefore both 
she, and they who wrought these abominations at Thy- 
atira, should suffer great affliction unless they re- 
pented; and the Lord threatens her children. "Her 
children" I suppose, means those who had accepted, 
or would accept, her doctrines. All the churches shall 
know " that I am he who searches the heart." Yes, 
one who could so minutely commend all that was good, 
and point out all that was bad in this church member- 
ship, and in all these seven churches, is certainly the 
one who not only can, but does, search the hearts. 

SARDIS. 

" I know your works, and that you have a name to 
live, but are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the 
things that remain, and are ready to die: for I have 



26 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



not found your works perfect before God. Remember 
therefore how you have received and heard, keep it, 
and repent. If therefore you will not watch, I will 
come upon you as a thief, and you shall not know when 
I will come. But you have a few names in Sardis 
who have not defiled their garments; and they shall 
walk with me in white : for they are worthy. He that 
overcometh shall be arrayed in white raiment; and 
I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but 
will confess his name before my Father, and the angels " 
(Eev. iii. 1-5). Here is a very dark picture drawn 
of this church, which certainly is in a very bad con- 
dition, but there are a few even in this church who are 
faithful. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

This church is commended by the Lord above all 
the others; in fact, seems to be perfect, and, in conse- 
quence, receives from her Lord one of his most pre- 
cious promises : " Because you have kept the word of 
my patience, I will also keep you from the hour of 
temptation, that shall come upon all the world, to try 
them that dwell upon the earth." This keeping tfoi 
word of the Lord's patience should be responded to in 
the hearts and lives of all Christians. It is something 
more than a mere remembrance of the Lord's death and 
sufferings. It includes not only the remembrance of 
these, but also the doing or keeping the spiritual man., 
in the same submissive frame of mind that the Lord 
had when, in Gethsemane, he prayed : " Thy will be 
done, not mine." Let us all strive to remember this, 
that we likewise may share in this blest promise. 



KEVELATI02T OF JESUS CHEIST. 



27 



LAODICEA. 

This congregation lias nothing to commend it and 
much to condemn it. It was poor, wretched, misera- 
ble, blind and naked, and is threatened with extinction 
unless it repents. Notwithstanding its wretched con- 
dition, the Lord assures them that he loves them, and 
therefore demands that they repent. It is worthy of 
□ote here that notwithstanding the Lord who addresses 
them was their mediator and intercessor, he does not 
wink at their sinful defects, or in anywise extend 
hope to them, except on condition that " they repent " ; 
and what is true of this church in respect to this, is 
true of all churches, and of us too; we must repent of 
all our wrongs, by turning from them and doing right. 

I have thus hastily gone over the Lord's admonition 
to these seven churches or congregations, because I 
deem it very important that we reflect upon and accept 
the lessons drawn therefrom. Perhaps there is not 
a congregation of the professed followers of Christ in 
existence but will approximate the condition of some 
one of these seven churches, hence should appropriate 
to itself the Lord's admonition that is adapted to the 
condition. 

There is also another fact for us to remember; 
that is, the eyes of the Lord are open ,to the conduct 
and condition of his people, not only in these congrega- 
tions, but throughout the world. I will remark here 
that I take no stock in the oft-repeated assertion that 
the number seven is a complete number and means 
all the churches. This is nonsense. These seven 
churches existed in the local cities named, and were 



28 REVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 

severally commended or reproved according to their 
spiritual condition, and. the j were not designed to rep- 
resent other churches except as other churches were 
guilty of like practices. It is quite likely that John, 
while at Ephesus, had looked after these other churches, 
which lay close around Ephesus, and that when John 
was banished to the Isle of Patmos these churches con- 
sidered it a sacred duty to minister to his bodily com- 
fort in his forlorn affliction. There was, doubtless, 
some one there, or soon would be, from Asia, as the Lord 
directed John to write it in a book and send it to the 
seven churches! 

THE FATE OF THESE CHURCHES. 

Of the seven, Ephesus, Sardis and Laodicea have 
long since ceased to exist as churches. Smyrna has 
remained to this day, and is reckoned as a Christian 
city. Pergamos has a population of three thousand 
Christians. Thyatira still exists as a church of Christ. 
Of Philadelphia it is said it has remained a church 
of Christ to this day. There is said to be five Chris- 
tian churches in it now. 



CHAPTER V. 



, THE THRONE IN HEAVEN AND THE SEVEN SEALS. [ 
Revelation iv.-vi. 

SECTION I. REVELATION IV. 1-11. 

I am not disposed to enter into the merits of the 
sublime scene which John pictures out for us in the 
fourth chapter of Revelation, and try to find any equiv- 
alent for it on earth. It is true the voice announced 
to John that he would show him things that were to 
be thereafter; but it is not necessary that the con- 
tents of this chapter should come within the scope of 
that promise, nor, in fact, till we reach the opening 
of the seven seals of the book that the Lamb prevailed 
to open. I think the main object of these two chap- 
ters (iv. and v.) is to give force and expression to what 
was to follow; just as the sublime scene of chapter i. 
was designed to give force and reverence to the message 
to the seven churches. We should remember, too, that 
the law was given at Mount Sinai with the demonstra- 
tion of thunder and lightning and the blast of the 
trumpet; not that these things meant anything in par« 
ticular beyond the fact of a great divine demonstration. 
Paul, like John, we remember, was caught up into 
the third heaven and heard unspeakable things whicl} 
ii was not lawful to utter. 

John says that after he had finished writing tha 
Lord's message to the seven churches, <e a door was 
opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard 

29 



30 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



was a trumpet speaking to me, and saying, Come up 
here, and I will show you things which must come to 
pass hereafter." Then he tells us that he was " im- 
mediately in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne set in 
heaven, and one sat upon the throne, who was to be 
looked upon like a jasper or sardine stone " (Rev. 
iv. 1-3). 

f It is worthy of note here that John does not tell 
us anything about the form of that one who sat upon 
that throne. This is in exact line with Deuteronomy 

iv. 15 : " You saw no manner of similitude on the day 
that Jehovah spake to you out of the midst of the fire 
in Horeb." And J ohn says in his Epistles : " No man 
has seen God at any time " (I. John iv. 12). In fact, 
I believe this holds good throughout the Scriptures. 
There is, however, a little seeming conflict between tlia 
and various other declarations. Angels often spoke as 
God, when they were only bearing a message from God. 
The voice that addressed Moses from the burning bu l 
on the mount said: " I am the God of Abraham," etc , 
but Stephen tells us it was an angel (Acts vii. 35), ana 
bo I think everywhere where God is spoken of as hav- 
ing been seen, it was either an angel or a vision, and 
not the real substance. 

But both the revelation and the writer here in Reve- 
lation iv, give us distinctly to understand that it was the 
everlasting God, the Creator of all things, who occupied 
the throne, and who was, in fact, the author of the revela- 
tion about to be made ; who held the " book " of chapter 

v. in his right hand. In chapter v. it is a pleasing 
thought that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 83] 



vlio has prevailed with God to open the book and unfold 
to us the future history and destiny of his people ; open- 
ing to our astonished vision the future wonders of re- 
demption. John says that he heard every created thing 
which was in heaven and on earth saying : " Blessing, 
and glory, and honor, and dominion belong unto him who 
sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and 
ever." 

CECTIOST II. OPENING OF THE SEALS REVELATION VI. 

First Seal. — This seal reveals a white horse with a 
rider armed with a bow and a crown, and he came forth 
" conquering and to conquer." 

Second Seal. — The opening of this seal brings forth 
a red horse. The rider of this horse had power to take 
peace from the earth, and that men should slay one an- 
other ; and to this rider there was given a great sword. 

Third Seal. — This seal brings forth a black horse, 
the rider of which had a scale of weights with instruc- 
tions to measure out wheat and barley, and to price them 
very high, taking no account of the oil and wine. 

Fourth Seal. — This seal brings forth a pale horse, 
with Death as its rider, and hades followed him. And 
there was given them power over the fourth part of the 
earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with 
death (pestilence) and with the wild beasts of the earth. 

These four horses and their riders are symbols either 
of certain events or of certain conditions which are to 
prevail upon the earth till our Lord comes. The mean- 
ing of the second, third and fourth symbols is pretty 
well de fined by the work they are called upon to do. 
There was given them authority over the fourth part of 



The wonders Of the 



the earth (earth here means mankind), to kill them (the 
fourth part of them) with the sword, famine, death 
and wild beasts. This one-fourth of the earth (or man) 
is not localized, hence I conclude it means one-fourth of 
all the inhabitants of the earth. If this is correct, then 
it means violent death, and not ordinary death, for all 
must die. It would be interesting to have the statistics 
of mortality from that day to this, and see whether or 
not it is a fact that one-fourth of mankind do waste 
away by war, famine, murder and pestilence, and by the 
wild beasts of the earth. I strongly incline to the opin- 
ion that not to exceed three-fourths of the human family 
die a natural death. If this be true of the three horses, 
then the white horse has a different mission, though not 
defined. It is barely possible that his mission is to con- 
quer the world for right and enlightenment, but I hesi- 
tate to affirm as to just what his mission is. 

The Fifth Seal discloses the blood of the matryrs of 
Jesus from that day to a certain period of time, which 
is crying loudly for vengeance. J ohn says he saw under 
the altar the souls of them who were slain, etc. It is 
hard to mistake this symbolism when the sacrifices were 
slain, as by the law of Moses nearly all the blood was 
poured out at the foot of the altar. God said to Cain : 
" What have you done ? The voice of thy brother's 
blood cries unto me from the ground" (Gen. iv. 10). 
And these martyrs call upon God to avenge their blood 
upon those who dwell upon the earth. The answer of 
God is for them to wait yet a little while, thereby im- 
plying that in due course of time he would avenge them.. 
It is quite probable that this demand for vengeance was 



-REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



33 



made when imperial pagan Rome changed to imperial 
Christian Rome. An immense quantity of Christian 
blood was shed by pagan Rome in the ten persecutions 
that preceded Constantine, but then Christianity was en- 
throned,, and it would be but natural for the Christians 
then to retaliate upon the pagans ; but God says " No ; 
wait awhile ; there are more to be slain yet." 

Sixth Seal (Rev. vi. 12-17). — The opening of this 
seal brings us to scenes immediately connected with the 
second coming of the Son of God ; at least, the symbol- 
ism is the same as in Matthew. (See Matt. xxiv. 29, 
30). " But immediately with [meta] the tribulation of 
those days [what days? The days of His second ad- 
vent.] the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall noc 
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and 
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; and then shall 
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven : then shall 
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the 
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power 
and great glory." This is what the Lord said should 
be when he came again. Now here is what J ohn really 
saw in vision : " I saw when he opened the sixth seal, 
and there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became 
black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as 
blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, as a 
fig-tree casts her untimely figs, when shaken by a great 
wind. Heaven was removed as a scroll when it is 
rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved 
out of their places. And the kings of the earth, 
and the princes, and chief captains, and the rich, 
and strong, bond and free, hid themselves in the caves 



34 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



and in the rocks of the mountains; and said unto tho 
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the 
face of him who sits upon the throne, and from the 
wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath 
has come ; and who shall be able to stand ?" (Rev. vi. 
12-17). 

None except such as have a preconceived theory to 
establish can fail to see that the imagery of these two 
Scriptures is nearly exactly alike. It is true, J ohn here 
in Revelation vi. 12-17 is more full — enters more into 
detail — than the Saviour is in Matthew xxiv. 22-30. 
But we must remember that our Lord simply gives the 
concrete of the matter, leaving it to John to supply tho 
more copious details. 

As I have now reached a point in our investigation 
that certainly indicates the second advent of our blessed 
Lord, it is proper here to say that the return of our 
Lord, the destruction of the wicked and the reward of 
the children of God is the focal point of the great con- 
summation to which all the prophetic symbols in this 
book are tending; and, per consequence, we may expect 
to have these things fully and often developed, under 
different aspects, in the remainder of this book. 

It is frequently thought that this book is chiefly in- 
terested in the development of things that are new. It 
is granted that much of the symbolism is new and very 
suggestive, but we would be surprised if we knew how 
often these are referred to and partially developed in 
previous prophecies. In fact, this book bears evidence 
upon its face that it is the culmination of prior 
prophecy. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



35 



The oath of the angel in Revelation x. 5-7 shows con- 
clusively that certain things mentioned in chapter xi. 
15-19 were declared previously by his servants, the 
prophets, and that they would be realized when the 
seventh trumpet sounded. The oath is as follows : 
" The angel which I saw standing upon the earth and 
sea lifted tip his right hand to heaven, and sware by him 
that lives for ever and e Tr er, who created the heavens, 
and the things therein, and the earth, and all that is in 
it, and the sea, and the things therein, that the time 
should not be delayed : but that in the days of the voice 
of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, then 
shall be fulfilled the mystery of God, as he has declared 
to his servants, the prophets." 

Peter, without any question, refers to the very same 
thing when he says : " He [God] will send the Christ, 
which we have proclaimed to you : even Jesus, whom the 
heavens must retain until the time of restoration of the 
things whereof God has spoken by the mouth of his holy 
prophets since the world began" (Acts iii. 20, 21). 
Translators disagree a little about the rendering of this 
passage, which is easily accounted for on account of its 
being prophetic of the far-distant future; but I have 
given the sense above about as I gather it from the dif- 
erent versions now before me. Some Restoration writ- 
ers have emphasized the words " all things " in the pas- 
sage, making it mean everything spoken about in the 
Scriptures; such is not the meaning of the passage. 
It means all the things God had spoken connected with 
the second advent of his Son Jesus Christ. 



36 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



Then, reverting to Revelation vi. 12-17 : The 
" great earthquake " of verse 12 may mean the upheaval 
or commotion of the nations of the earth, possibly some- 
thing like the great Eastern question or balance of power 
now troubling the European nations, which sometimes 
makes us tremble through apprehension of what will 
likely follow that clash of arms. If this earthquake 
may thus be symbolically interpreted, then it follows 
that the sun, moon and stars, which follow, may also be 
taken as symbols. That the sun was darkened, or be- 
came black, would mean that the gospel light would be- 
come darkened. This would unquestionably follow if 
the so-called Christian nations were engaged in a deadly 
conflict, dealing death and woe on every hand to their 
fellows. Instead of exhibiting that love and unity 
which the Lord taught and prayed that his disciples 
might show before the world, that the world might be 
lieve that his Father had sent him (John xvii. 21) — in- 
stead of this love and unity, the exact contrary would 
be exhibited before the world, which would, of course, 
bring the contrary result — would make the world dis- 
believe. 

This symbolical interpretation of the sun is no far 
fetched inference; the prophets in the old Scriptures 
use it in this sense frequently. Isaiah says : " Behold, 
the day of the Lord comes, cruel with wrath and fierce 
anger, to lay the land desolate : for he shall destroy the 
sinners thereof out of it. The stars of heaven and the 
constellations thereof shall not give their light: 
the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and 
the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And 



feEVELATIO^ OF JESUS CHRIST. 



3? 



I will punish the world for their evil, and the 
wicked for their iniquity" (Isa. xiii. 9-11). This 
prophetic utterance, as we learn from the context. ha3 
reference to the overthrow of the Babylonian kingdom, 
and has no reference to celestial disturbances, but to the 
dreadful overthrow of a kingdom. And Ezekiel says: 
" When I shall put you [the kingdom of Egypt] out, 
I will cover heaven, and I will make the stars thereof 
dark ; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon 
shall not give her light. And all the bright lights of 
heaven will I make dark over you, and I will set dark- 
ness upon your land, saith the Lord God 99 (Ezek. xxxii. 
7, 8). This, again, is not a physical disturbance among 
the heavenly bodies, but a terrible destruction to be 
visited upon Egypt. Amos uses these symbols about 
the same way ; he says of Israel : " I will cause your 
sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in 
the clear day: I will turn your feasts into mourning, 
and all your songs into lamentation; and bring sack- 
cloth upon your loins, and baldness upon your head; 
and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, the 
end thereof a bitter day" (Amos viii. 9, 10). So the 
reader can see that the darkening of the sun, symboli- 
cally, means a great calamity as God has used it by his 
prophets of old, and I think it safe to so consider it 
here in Eevelation vi. 12-17. 

And what greater calamity could befall the earih 
than to see the so-called Christian nations engaged in 
deadly strife, and by it cast a pall over the gospel ? 
But some one will ask, Is this likely to be done? I 
answer, Yes ; never since the world began has there been, 



38 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



on the part of humanity, such gigantic preparations 
made for the slaughter of human beings, as now. Nearly 
every Christian nation of Europe has well-nigh bank- 
rupted itself in preparing for the conflict. Their im- 
mense standing armies and their mighty navies, pano- 
plied with the engines of death, are a lasting disgrace 
to the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they pre- 
tend to, but do not, serve. Think of one of those 
mighty naval crafts, bristling with instruments of de- 
struction and loaded with five hundred men to manip- 
ulate its infernal machinery — think of such a levia- 
than wearing upon its banners this inscription, " I say 
unto you, Love your enemies, and pray por them 
who persecute you, and despiteful!, y entreat 
you." Those mighty armaments are not preparing for 
nothing. Despite the efforts of the Peace Congress to 
stay the tide of ruin, the insane and foolish preparation 
goes bravely on. 

" The whole moon became as blood." The moon 
shines with borrowed light. The Church of Christ 
shines — if shine it does — with the reflected light of the 
gospel of J esus Christ, and for the church to participate 
in this deadly conflict, which it is sure to do, would be 
to turn it to blood. " The stars of heaven fell unto the 
efp-fh like untimely figs when shaken of wind." From 
a, hat the Saviour already told John, that "the stars 
which he held in his right hand were the messengers of 
the seven churches," and from what Daniel says, They 
who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment ; and they who turn many to righteousness as the 
stars for ever and ever " (Dan. xii. 3), we must con- 



REVELATION" OP JESUS CHRIST. o9 

elude that stars, as a symbol, may be interpreted to mean 
ministers of the gospel. Nothing more natural than to 
expect, as the outcome of such a dire conflict, that many, 
yea, very many, of the time-serving ministers who pose 
as ministers of the gospel should fall away. 

What more reasonable and just, then, than to sup- 
pose that the world, under this fearful state of things, 
will approximate the condition of the old world before 
God in the days of Noah ? I say, what more reasonable 
than to suppose, "As it was in the days of Noah, so 
shall it be at the coming of the Son of man" ? In fact, 
if I am interpreting these symbols aright, the comina; 
of the Son of God is the next event that follows. Why 
should not the kings of the earth, the chief officers and 
princes, and all the inhabitants of the earth who are 
wicked, mourn and try to hide themselves from the face 
of Him who is seated upon the throne, and from the 
wrath of the Lamb, when they see that the great day 
of his wrath has come, and that they are not at peace 
with God \ 



CHAPTEE VI. 



THE SEVENTH SEAL AND FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 
Revelation viii. 1-13. 

In my last I brought my readers down to the second 
coming of the Son of God — to the great day of his wrath 
■ — to the time when he will say, " But those my enemies, 
who would not that I should reign over them, bring 
hither, and slay them before me" (Luke xix. 27). 
Now, that lord who would not, in the growing time of his 
crop, suffer the tares to be plucked out lest the wheat 
should also be rooted up, now that the time of the har- 
vest has come, how will he proceed ? Will he not say to 
the reapers, " Gather out the tares first, and bind them 
in bundles to be burned " (Matt. xiii. 41, 42) ? How 
can this be done % Simply by placing a mark upon the 
wheat to distinguish it from the tares. But is this what 
comes next ? "I saw an angel ascending from the east, 
who had the seal of the living God ; and he cried with 
a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given 
to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Do no harm to the 
earth, nor sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the serv- 
ants of our God upon their foreheads " (Bev. vii. 2, 3). 
It is said in II. Timothy ii. 19 : " The foundation of 
God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them 
that are his." It is not likely that those servants of 
God were sealed with any mark visible to mortal eyes, 
but John was to understand, as we are also, that this 
demonstration was to show God's ability to protect his 

40 ■ 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



41 



children when he punishes the wicked of the world, even 
as he took Lot by the hand and led him forth out of 
Sodom ere he visited his wrath upon the ungodly. 
John says he heard the number of the Jews who were 
sealed as one hundred and forty-four thousand, twelve 
thousand to each tribe; after this he sees an innu- 
merable company, who we suppose were also sealed. 
These all unite in ascriptions of praise to God and the 
Lamb ; and it is said of them that " they were before 
the throne of God, and that they served him day and 
night in his temple: and he that sat upon the throne 
shall spread his tabernacle over them. And that they 
shall hunger nor thirst any more ; nor are they depend- 
ent upon the sun for any heat ; but the Lamb who is in 
the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall 
guide them unto the fountains of the water of life : and 
God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Rev. 
vii. 15-17). We are to understand that the marks 
placed upon this innumerable company are to place them 
out of harm's way of the woes which are soon to follow. 

" When he had opened the seventh seal, there fol- 
lowed silence in heaven about the space of half an hour" 
(Rev. viii. 1). This silence is ominous of a new chain 
of events that the God of heaven deems best to present to 
his servants, which, if I understood the scope of the first 
six trumpets that are about to sound, are the various 
steps taken, or to be taken, in the overthrow of the 
Roman Empire — the civil jurisdiction of imperial 
Rome. I am led to this conclusion by the seeming 
adaptability of the fifth and sixth trumpets to the Sara- 
cen and Turkish conquests. If these two trumpets indi- 



42 



THE WOKDERS OF THE 



cate the overthrow of the remaining portions of this 
mighty fabric, then reason would lead us to conclude 
that the others would also comprehend a part. 

Before these trumpets begin to sound, an angel offers 
up the prayers of the saints (verses 3, 4). The sound- 
ing of these trumpets, then, seems to come in response to 
the prayers of these saints, and, if this is so, it gives us 
a clew to the substance of their prayers, which was 
doubtless that this imperial power, which was gradually 
subverting the faith of the gospel and oppressing God's 
people, should be destroyed. The trumpet, too, the 
Bible reader will understand, is a symbol of war. It 
is agreed on all hands that the inroads of the barbarians 
of the North was the first great fatality of the Western 
Empire of Kome. Alaric, the great Gothic king of the 
North, first devastated Greece about the beginning of 
the fifth century and then Italy and her provinces, and 
finally took and sacked Rome itself. For a long series 
of years, even centuries, the city of Borne had never tol- 
erated an enemy within its walls. Alaric not only hum- 
bled the Roman power by exacting an immense quantity 
of tribute, sacking the city of Rome, and despoiling it of 
its treasure, but he effectually dismembered one-third 
of its dominion — the northwestern part. 

Rome had shed an immense amount of innocent 
blood in the three first centuries of the Christian era, 
and early in the fourth century Constantine had re- 
moved the seat of empire to Byzantium (Constantino- 
ple). While the imperial power was transferred by a 
pretended Christian prince, it was not in his power to 
transfer from Rome the guilt of the stain of Christian 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



43 



blood spilt in its amphitheaters by Domitian and others, 
the citizens, of course, enjoying the scene when the 
ferocious wild beasts would end the agony of the poor 
Christians by devouring their flesh. It is a remarkable 
fact, too, that when Alaric sacked Eome, the Christian 
churches were not robbed or pillaged of their treasure, 
and but very few genuine Christians perished or were 
molested in person or treasure. The rage and fury of 
the barbarians fell largely upon the rich and opulent, 
who were of the descent and blood of those who had 
seconded the slaughter of the Christians in the past 
three or four generations. 

It could truly be said that when the first ange ! 
sounded, "there followed hail and fire, ming ed with 
blood, and they were cast upon the earth; and t..e tldr 
part of the earth [where they were cast] was burne 1 
up, and a third part of the trees were burned up, and all 
green grass was burned up " (Rev. viii. 7). 

Most interpreters take the latter part of the verse 
too literally, making the earth, trees and grass all lit- 
eral. Of course, a third part of the earth wa_> not 
literally burned up. Such visitations affect the wicked 
where they fall. Let us, then, interpret this of the 
resources, growth and means of sustenance, mingled 
with death (blood). ~No one can pursue tha treal of 
Alaric in the Roman Empire without being profoundly 
impressed with the appropriateness of these symbols. 
This invasion severed from Rome, for the time being, 
about one-third of all northwest of the Alps. 

" The second angel sounded, and as it were a great 
mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and 



44 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



the third part of the sea became blood; and the third 
part of the creatures that were in the sea, and had life, 
died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." 
This symbolism indicates some maritime disturb- 
ance of a serious and alarming magnitude, which, if 
our view is correct, will affect one-third of the south- 
western Roman Empire. What movement, then, of 
such a nature, if any, did occur that overthrew another 
third of this empire? We have just such a movement 
recorded. Genseric, the Vandal chieftain, swept down 
from the north through Spain, crossed the Straits of 
Gibraltar, took possession of all JSForth Africa as 
far east as Libya, and put an end to Roman rule in all 
this region. More than this, he built a powerful fleet 
and took possession of all the west part of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea as far east as Sicily, taking also Sardinia 
and Corsica, and putting an end to the western Eoman 
Empire upon the seas. Not only this, but Genseric 
landed his fleet in the mouth of the Tiber, seized Rome 
itself, and for fourteen days the city was sacked and 
ravaged by the Vandals. This time Rome did not fare 
so well. This time the professed Christians in Rome 
fared the same as, or, rather, worse than its other inhab- 
itants. The latter had just reddened their hands in 
the slaughter, by thousands, of their fellow Christians 
in and about Carthage, who were called Donatists — 
Christians ; and a just God now requires their blood at 
the hands of Catholic Rome. They complained bitterly 
of this Vandal treatment, but these Vandals retorted: 
" Just so you did to our people over in and around 
Carthage;" verifying the Saviour's statement that 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



45 



" whatsoever measure you shall mete unto others, the 
same shall they measure back to you." 

This third part of the power and shipping of the 
Western Empire was destroyed, and the sea became 
bloody. That this, there was considerable naval fighting 
in and around Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, putting an 
end to fully one-third of all the Western Empire south 
and west of Rome. 

■The third trumpet. 

" The third angel sounded, and there fell from 
heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon 
a third part of the rivers, and fountains of water ; and 
the name of the star is Wormwood : and the third part of 
the waters became wormwood; and many men died of 
the waters, because they were bitter." This symbolism 
as to the rivers and fountains of water being made bit- 
ter, causing death, etc., if I understand it, means the 
life and source of life of the empire. This blazing- 
star would indicate some brilliant military chieftain, 
who, while he does not dry up the streams and foun- 
tains of life, makes them very bitter. 

Perhaps in all the history of the Roman Empire we 
can not find a military chieftain who fills the symbolism 
more completely than Attila the Hun, who for twenty 
years troubled the Roman Empire — from A. D. 433 to 
453. In A. D. 441, they attacked the Eastern Empire 
with vigor. Gibbon says : " As the Romans were pressed 
by a victorious enemy, they gradually retired into 
Thrace. Here they had a third defeat ; by the destruc- 
tion of this army, Attila became the sole master of the 
field, Erom the Hellespont to Thermopylae even to 



46 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



the suburbs of Constantinople, he ravaged without re- 
sistance, and without mercy. Words the most expres- 
sive of total extirpation may be applied to seventy cities 
of the Eastern Empire. The Emperor Theodosius was 
protected by the walls of Constantinople, but these wall* 
had been shaken by an earthquake, which had create,) 
large fissures therein. This incident was aggravated 
by a superstitious fear that Heaven itself was about to 
deliver the imperial city into the hands of the Scythian 
chief. In all their invasion of the civilized empires 
of the South, they have distinguished themselves bv 
a savage and destructive spirit. When Theodosius sued 
for peace, he was compelled to let Attila dictate the 
terms: First, That the emperor should resign to Attila 
all the territory south of the Danube, from Belgrade as 
far east as IsTovat in Thrace, in breadth fifteen days' 
journey. Second, That Theodosius should increase his 
annual tribute to Attila from seven hundred to twenty- 
one hundred pounds of gold, and make immediate pay- 
ment of six thousand pounds of gold to defray the ex- 
pense of the war. Third, That the Huns who had been 
taken prisoners in war should be released immediately, 
without ransom ; that every Roman who wished to escape 
from Attila should pay twelve pieces of gold, and that 
all the barbarians who had escaped from Attila should 
be given up without stipulation as to pardon." (Gib- 
bon, Vol. III., pp. 396-404.) 

Just think of the bitterness and humiliation of an 
emperor of one of the mightiest empires on earth being 
compelled to stipulate thus with a half -civilized savage ; 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



47 



but it was this or worse. He was not only compelled 
to this, but Attila forced him to comply to the utmost. 

Later on, Theodosius, smarting under the shame 
and disgrace of paying tribute to a heathen master, con- 
spired with some of his court to have Attila assassinat- 
ed, and to that end send a sum of money by one of Attila' s 
ambassadors to corrupt the guards. The plot, however, 
leaked out, and Attila immediately sent an embassy to 
Theodosius demanding the head of the instigator; and 
telling the emperor, in plain, scathing words, about his 
crime and perfidy. The emperor trembled, and imme- 
diately sent an embassy to Attila, begging his pardon 
and forgiveness, which the heathen king granted. 

After these things, Attila laid the Western Empire 
under tribute, though, through shame, Aetius, who 
might be called the prime minister of the Western Em- 
pire, disguised the fact as best he could. Though Aetius 
was nominally in control of Gaul (modern France and 
Germany), yet it was really the inheritance of Alaric, 
who, under the first trumpet, put his paws on the impe- 
rial city, and had dismembered this region from the 
Empire of the West. It was at this time under the 
reign of Theodoric, son of the great Alaric. This Theo- 
doric and Aetius had a sort of military union to help 
each other in time of trouble. Attila, knowing this and 
meditating designs upon Italy, thought best to crush 
Theodoric first. To this end, he cut loose from modern 
Hungary, the seat of his empire, with eight hundred 
thousand of his barbarous Huns, and marched some 
eight hundred or a thousand miles west into the heart 
of Gaul (Erance), carrying death and consternation to 



48 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



every town in Germany and France that was not able to 
resist his barbarian host. Finally he laid siege to Or- 
leans in France, and just as the city began to snccumb 
to his mighty power a dark speck arose on the horizon 
to the southeast. It was the allied army of Theodoric, 
the Gothic king, and Aetius, the Roman patrician. As 
soon as Attila comprehended the situation, he hastily 
withdrew from Orleans and retreated to the plains of 
Chalon, at the headwaters of the river Rhine and the 
Danube. This plain, a level country, was about one 
hundred miles broad and one hundred and fifty miles 
long. Choosing a favorable spot for the operations of 
his cavalry, he awaited the onset of the allied arm^, 
about a million strong, making near two millions en- 
gaged in this terrible struggle. It may be claimed as 
a drawn battle, both sides suffering terribly. The slain 
is variously estimated at from one hundred and sixty- 
two thousand to three hundred thousand. Among the 
dead was Theodoric, the Gothic king ; Attila was proba- 
bly worsted, as he, after a pause of a few days, with- 
drew from the field. This is claimed to be one of the 
bloodiest battles ever fought. 

The next spring Attila crossed the Alps, and invaded 
Italy, and besieged Aquileia, at the northern extremity 
of the Adriatic Sea, with an innumerable host of bar- 
barians. Aquileia was one of the strongest and wealth- 
iest maritime cities of Italy. After a three months' 
siege, it fell into Attila's hands, and it is said the next 
generation could hardly tell where the city had been. 
All northern Italy was speedily overrun by Attila's 
force, and everything in his path was destroyed except 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



49 



Milan and Pavia, which surrendered at discretion, but 
were plundered of all their wealth, their citizens being 
spared as captives. Here at Milan he caused an artist 
to celebrate his victory with a picture representing the 
Caesars prostrate at the feet of the Scythian monarch, 
pouring out their bags of gold as tribute. It is true that 
Attila robbed Italy of millions of her gold, so that the 
rich and nobility fell, in a few short months, from the 
loftiest pinnacle of earthly aggrandizement to a state 
of beggary and servitude. 

When Attila announced his intention to carry his 
victorious arms into the city of Rome itself, he was ad- 
monished by Leo, the reigning bishop, that he should de- 
sist from Rome ; that the apparitions of the apostles St. 
Peter and Paul would visit him with instant death un- 
less he left Rome alone. Attila, being superstitious him- 
self, had his fears excited, and agreed that in case they, 
in due course of time, would send the Princess Honoria, 
the heir-apparent to the throne of the Caesars, to be his 
wife, he would desist ; but, if not, he would return and 
wreak his vengeance upon Italy in a far more terrible 
form. But, a few months after this, Attila died, and a 
mere fragment of Western imperial Rome still re- 
mained. 

It is hardly to be doubted that Attila put an end 
to the resources of a third of the Western Empire. Ae- 
tius had assisted the Gothic king, with what force he 
could raise in Italy, to defend his dominions, but when 
Attila invaded Italy, and wiped out a third of it, the 
Goths refused to aid it, so that Italy was left to her fate. 4 
" The waters were made titter, and many men died o[\ 
them/' Thus ends the third trumpet. 



50 



THE "WONDERS OF THE 



THE FOURTH TRUMPET. 

" The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of 
the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and 
the third part of the stars; so that the third part of 
them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third 
part of it, and the night likewise" (Rev. viii. 12). 
If our conjectures are right thus far, we must con- 
clude that the light of imperial Rome of the West, under 
the above symbolism, is now about to become extin- 
guished. The pall of darkness is now about to over- 
spread Italy, the once proud inheritance of the Caesars, 
now shorn of her foreign possessions. Three grand 
divisions of her foreign domain are successively lost — 
Africa, Spain and Gaul — and parts of Scythia and Pa- 
nonia are hers no more. Italy alone still remains at 
the close of Attila's reign or life. 

The dangerous alliance of these barbarous mercena- 
ries had for several generations been gathering strength 
till they now oppressed and insulted the last remains 
of Roman freedom and dignity. At each revolution 
their pay and privileges were augmented, and their in- 
solence increased accordingly. A large per cent, of 
the inhabitants (about one-third) of Italy was now in 
their custody, and they demanded it as right that one* 
third of the lands of Italy should be divided among 
them in perpetuity. This right was denied them by 
the few feeble shreds of imperial dignity which still 
remained. 

Odoacer next comes to the front, and assures his fel- 
low barbarians that, if they would associate themselves 
under his command, they could soon extort the jus- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



51 



tice that had been denied their reasonable requests. A 
formidable army was soon raised, and in a few short 
months the reigning and helpless Angustulus (the last 
emperor who bore the name in Italy) implored the 
clemency of Odoacer. His military subjects now pro- 
claimed Odoacer king of Italy, who was the first bar- 
barian who ruled over Italy, and the Western Empire 
was at an end. 

Augustulus, who had fled from the scene of action 
beyond the Asiatic Sea, sent his resignation to the Sen- 
ate of Rome. Thereupon the Senate, by a decree, signi- 
fied to Zeno, the Byzantine emperor of the East, their 
determination to no longer be troubled with the imperial 
succession in Italy. In their own name, and in the 
name of the people, they consent that the seat of uni- 
versal empire shall be transferred from Rome to Con- 
stantinople, and surrender their privilege to choose their 
own master. Here ends the civil and imperial author- 
ity of this part of the empire which had for more than 
a thousand years given laws to the world. 

" One-third of the sun," etc., " is smitten." How is 
this ? It looks as though all the light of imperial Rome 
had gone out, not simply one-third. It is true, imperial 
Rome is no more, but there is still Odoacer, king of Italy ; 
and by the transfer of imperial rights to Zeno, the em- 
peror of the East, that emperor is not yet ready or will- 
ing to surrender Italy to Odoacer, so creates the office of 
"Exarchate of Ravenna," and sends an officer there under 
that title. This exarchate is a sort of charge df affaires, 
to look after the civil government of Italy. So it is 



52 REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

true we have two-thirds of the ruling of Italy still re- 
maining. The sun, moon and stars (a two-thirds part) 
still shine in Italy. This closes the fourth trumpei. 
What comes of the two-thirds we will see later on. 
This brings us down to A. D. 510. 



CHAPTEK VII. 



THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 

Revelation ix. 1-13. 

All these trumpets, as I have already indicated, 
mean aggressive war. " And I saw, and heard an eagle 
flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, 
woe, woe, to them who dwell upon the earth, because of 
the trumpets of the three angels which are yet to sound" 
(Rev. viii. 13). The eagle, be it remembered, was the' 
symbol of imperial Rome. This poor bird is now 
alarmed, and well it might be, if we interpret aright 
the symbols of the next two trumpets. I 

This is introductory to the sounding of the three 
last trumpets, and from the solemn and impressive man- 
ner in which they are introduced we are impressed with 
the idea that something terrible is to follow their sound- 
ing. You will notice, too, in this introduction that 
these woes fall upon " the inhabitants of the earth," 
meaning (if I understand the symbolism correctly) the 
unregenerate part of humanity. 

" The fifth angel sounded, and a star fell from 
heaven unto the earth ; and there was given to him the 
key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of 
the abyss; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, like* 
the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air 
were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And 
out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth : and 
power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth 



54 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



have power. And it was said unto them that they 
should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green 
thing, nor any tree, but only such men as have not the 
seal of God in their foreheads. And it was given unto 
them that they should not kill them, but that they 
should be tormented rive months : and their torment was 
as the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a man. 
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not 
find it ; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from 
them. The shapes of the locusts were like horses pre- 
pared for war; and upon their heads were crowns like 
gold, and their faces were like men's faces. And they 
had hair like women, and their teeth were like lions' 
teeth. And they had breastplates of iron; and the 
sound of their wings was like that of horses and chari- 
ots rushing into battle. And they have tails like scor- 
pions, and stings in their tails; and in their tails i3 
their power to hurt-men five months. They have over 
them a king, who is the angel of the abyss ; his name in 
Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek his name is Apoll- 
yon" (Kev. ix. 1-11). : 

This " star that fell from heaven unto the earth . . . 
the king over them," is a symbolism that indicates that 
this leader of desolation was once a Christian, and had 
fallen from that place to the earth — an apostate. The 
symbolism under this trumpet must necessarily mean 
the rise of Mahometanism, and the Saracen war and 
conquest. And, as I said before, the first four trumpets 
pertain almost wholly to the fall of western imperial 
Rome ; this fifth trumpet, and the sixth, pertain mostly 
to the fall and conquest of the Eastern Empire, or the 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



55 



eastern division of the imperial Roman Empire. If, 
therefore, this is correct, we ask, Was ever Mahomet a 
Christian before he set up for himself? I have the 
Koran, and I think, from the abundant references he 
makes to the Scriptures, that he had some means of 
knowing what they teach. And more than this, he 
acknowledges Jesus Christ to be a prophet of God ; but 
he for himself claims that he is a greater prophet than 
Jesus. I know that it is claimed by some that a. certain 
apostate Christian instructed him in Bibliology, but T 
think this is only guessed at. I am inclined to believe 
that some gospel preacher instructed him in the gospel, 
and that he himself apostatized. But, be this as it may, 
there is one thing certain, Mahometanism was never 
learned from the Bible. 

We are told farther on that the sun and the air were 
darkened by the smoke. Nothing could be truer than 
this symbolism as to the darkening of the counsel of 
God, substituting a base, selfish, immoral and lustful 
brute-force religion for the pure and peaceable and 
blessed gospel of Christ. 

In the description of the appearance of these lo- 
custs, it is very like the appearance of the Sarcacen 
army of men, all on horseback, and wearing upon their 
heads yellow turbans looking " like a crown of gold," 
and their long hair " like the hair of women." " Their 
teeth like lions " symbolizes their power to tear and 
devour. " Breastplates of iron." I believe it is well 
understood that the Saracens generally wore breastplates 
of iron. Their sound was like horses and chariots rush- 
ing to war, or into battle. Nothing could be truer of 



56 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



the Saracens. Their battle-cry when engaged, trans- 
lated into English, was : " God is the Almighty, and 
Mahomet is his prophet." 

" It was said unto them that they should not hurt 
the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree ; 
but only such men as have not the seal of God in their 
foreheads." This symbolism is also true to the very 
letter; Mahomet commanded three things, or his 
caliphs did for him: (1) Their unyielding enemies 
should be put to the sword; (2) or should embrace the 
Mahometan faith; (3) or should pay tribute, and, as 
it affected Christians, that their religion and property 
should be respected, only they should be in subjection to 
Mahometan rulers in civil matters. 

If this were so, says one, how do we account for the 
fact that so many Christians were put to death by them ? 
1 account for the fact in this way : Paul says, " They 
are not all Israel that are of Israel." Even so of pro- 
fessed Christians in A. D. 600-711. Paul says again: 
" The Spirit says expressly, that in later times some 
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spir- 
its, and the teaching concerning demons, through the. 
hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded into their con- 
science as with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and tq 
abstain from meats [food], which God created to be. 
received with thanksgiving by them who believe ancl 
know the truth" (I. Tim. iv. 1-3). Now, it is ^ 
fact that in the time of the Saracen conquest thQ 
Church of Christ was overloaded with timeservers and 
with celibates of both sexes. Fully one-half of the pro^ 
fessed Christians in Syria and Egypt had vowed eternal 



EEVELATtON OF JEStJS CHRIST. 



5? 



celibacy, and thought the only possible way for them 
to reach heaven was to mortify the lusts of the flesh; 
to abstain from any food that would gratify the appe- 
tites ; to live secluded from society, and not to perform 
physical labor, but live wholly upon the charity and alms 
of others. They had also become relic worshipers. Sup- 
posed fragments of the cross of Christ were adored as 
divine, and any quantity of the bones of supposed dead 
saints was dug up and adored as having a healing virtue. 
And, per consequence, if the bones of these dead saints 
had such divine virtue about them, it was reasonable to 
think that the spirits of those departed saints would be 
much interested in the welfare of their brethren in the 
flesh ; hence they began to pray to the dead saints instead 
of the God who made them. Not content with this, 
where the genuine relics could not be had, images made 
and fashioned, according to the fancy of the artist, to 
represent some dead saint, were adored instead of God 
himself. Hence the second Council of Nice decreed 
that " the worship of images is agreeable to Scripture 
and reason, and to the Fathers of the church. " 

I know some of my readers will give an incredulous 
smile at the bare statement of these things, supposing it 
impossible for professed Christians to deviate so far 
from the gospel so soon after the apostles; but such is 
the fact. So says all authentic history, and the apostle 
Paul himself stated that such things would be as I have 
quoted above. 

I do not suppose that the God of heaven would have 
allowed the Saracens to ha«ve overrun those pro- 
fessed Christian lands but for the fact that these 



58 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



vicious and degrading doctrines had become offensive 
in his sight. And it was these idolatrous pretenders 
over whom the Mahometans prevailed and slew in great 
numbers. Our text says they were commanded not to 
hurt, etc., only such as did " not have the seal of God 
in their foreheads." These, then, whom the Saracens 
slew were disobedient to the gospel — in using the sword, 
they " perished by the sword." Had they been sub- 
missive, as the gospel required, they would not have 
been slain by their enemies. Large numbers of Chris- 
tians did escape death at their hands, as was the case 
of the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia, which 
have remained to this day. And the same is true of 
some of the churches in Egypt, Libya and Syria. 

" Their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, 
when it strikes a man." Doubtless this was very un- 
pleasant to the mere timeservers. Those celibates had 
to go to work to sustain life, and the relics and images 
which were expected to protect them from harm failed 
— ingloriously failed — and they who depended upon 
such for deliverance lost faith in such things ; and after 
these fanatical crazes had subsided under the rule of 
the Saracens, many of them, no doubt, returned to the 
better faith. But let us imagine what agony it created 
when their precious idols were broken. Doubtless many 
of them would have preferred a martyr's death, and no 
doubt many of them desired to die as martyrs who were 
not gratified. 

It is stated that "this torment was to last five 
months." Here the apostle sees much of this panorama 
in symbol, and doubtless the five months are symbols; 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



59 



and, if symbolical, the days in these months will stand 
for years, and as there are one hundred and fifty days in 
five months, the duration would be one hundred and 
fifty years, counting thirty days for a month. It is 
usual for expositors here to refer to Ezekiel, where 
God gives the prophet a day for a year. But in the case 
of Ezekiel it is explained to be a day for a year; but 
here in Revelation ix. 11 there is no explanation of the 
symbol given. In such cases it would be arbitrary and 
wrong to so interpret months and days, unless it is 
known that the writer is dealing in symbols; in that 
case it is admissible. And this is the case here, because 
it would seem to be impossible to make such havoc and 
consternation and agony in the short space of five literal 
months. We understand, then, that this agony is lim- 
ited to one hundred and fifty years, and it is a fact that 
the aggressive period of the Saracens is nearly exactly 
limited to one hundred and fifty years. In 750 the 
Mahometans split asunder, and their aggressive work 
ceased, and in 780, or about that time, they began to 
announce the principle of peace, and manifested a desire 
to live at peace with their neighbors. This movement 
of the Saracens destroyed all the Eastern Empire of 
Rome and Constantinople east of Asia Minor, and all 
Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain in Europe. 

There can be no question but that Mahometanism 
was about as good in the sight of God as the Christianity 
of that part of the world overrun by the Saracens. I 
speak for the majority; of course there were some genu- 
ine Christians in all those countries ; this is provided for 
in the text, for they were commanded to not hurt any 



60 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



only those who had not the seal of God in their fore- 
heads. 

There is one thing more. These locusts had tails, 
and stings in their tails, and in their tails is power to 
hurt men five months. Some interpret this too literally. 
The solution of this symbol must be found in its power 
to hurt men, for this is what these tails are said to 
do. It is hardly necessary to state that the tail is 
usually behind. As the Saracens pushed their conquest, 
it was death, tribute, or Mahometanism ; and they kept 
behind them, wherever they went, power to enforce or 
perpetuate these conditions in all the provinces which 
they subdued. Any ordinary conquest might be subject 
to change, as the different rulers succeeded each other, 
as was the case in the Greek or Byzantine Empire. If 
the emperor sided with the doctrine of Rome, the church 
was affected by his view of things. But if, perchance, 
he adopted Arian views, the church was affected that 
way, but it was not so with this Saracen conquest. In 
was a permanent thing, and the agony caused thereby 
would prevail during the formative period of that em- 
pire. 

There is such a thing as becoming reconciled to any 
condition of things which men can not help. (Phil. iv. 
11.) And I suppose the Christians themselves had not 
only become reconciled to Mahometan rule, but even- 
felt relieved thereby from their own intolerable feuds 
and persecutions. The Saracen Empire, it is true, was 
divided, one division reigning at Bagdad in Assyria, 
and one in Spain, but each division was loyal to the 
Mahometan faith; and, as I said above, after about one 



BEVELATION OF JESUS CUEIST. 



61 



hundred and fifty years they settled down to peace with 
their neighboring nations. 

It is a little singular that they were commanded to 
not kill them, and yet that their king should be named 
" Destroyer." But we must remember that the Saracen 
policy was not to kill, but to convert to their faith, and 
to place under tribute. To destroy was the last phase 
of their mission. And for like reasons they preserved 
the trees, grass and fields, because they proposed to 
occupy them themselves. But they did destroy all the 
other civil governments where they occupied, as well 
as all internal opposition. 

We have seen, thus far under the trumpets, the 
Western Empire overthrown and all the Eastern ex- 
cept Asia Minor, part of France, Macedonia, Greece 
and Illyricum, which still remain to the Eastern Em- 
pire in A. D. 780. We will next hear the blast of the 
sixth trumpet. 



CHAPTEK VIII. 



SIXTH TRUMPET SOUNDS. 
Revelation ix. 13-21. 

w And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice 
from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 
saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Loose 
the four angels [messengers] who are bound at the 
great river Euphrates. And the four angels [messen- 
gers] were loosed, who had been prepared for an hour, 
a day, a month, and a year, to kill a third part of men. 
And the number of their army of horsemen was twice 
ten thousand times ten thousand. Thus I saw the 
horses, and they who sat upon them, and they had 
breastplates like fire, jacinth, and brimstone: and the 
heads of the horses were like the heads of lions ; and out 
of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and brimstone. 
By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, 
by the fire, and the smoke, and brimstone, which came 
forth out of their mouths. For the power of the horses 
is in their mouths, and in their tails : for their tails are 
like unto serpents, and have heads, and with them they 
also do hurt. The rest of mankind, who were not killed 
with these plagues, repented not of the works of their 
hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols 
of gold, and of silver, and brass, of stone and of wood ; 
which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; and they 
repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, 

62 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



63 



nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts " (Rev. ix. 
13-21). 

This sixth trumpet evidently locates this invasion, 
or war, as starting from Assyria or the Euphrates (from 
the country watered by this river). Following the con- 
quest of the Saracens, the Turkish power is the next 
formidable power that interferes with the Eastern Ro- 
man Empire, and, I may add, the only power. 

This trumpet also brings to our notice a very differ- 
ent work from the fifth trumpet. The fifth gave instruc- 
tions not to hurt any only such as had not the seal of 
God; and they should not kill, etc. But in the sixth 
trumpet they are to slay the third of mankind (in the 
countries where they operate, understood). Like the 
" locusts " of the fifth trumpet, they figure as horsemen, 
and in both cases the " tails with serpents' heads " ap- 
pear. But there seems to be some difference in their 
uniform, or the appearance of the horsemen. Crowns 
of gold, faces of men, and hair of women, is their 
appearance in the fifth; while in the sixth they have 
breastplates like fire, jacinth and brimstone, or their 
uniform is " red, blue and yellow/' 

There are four angels, or messengers of death, let 
loose to slay the third part of men. What these four 
messengers of death mean is not so easily determined. 
It is thought by some to indicate four divisions of the 
Turks, as was the case of the division of the empire 
by the four sons of Malak Shah, into Persia, India, 
Syria and Asia Minor. But, after carefully consider- 
ing the symbols of the vision and the history of the 
times, I do not think this is correct. Three of these 



64: 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



divisions fall within the Saracen conquest, noticed in 
our last chapter, and, as I understand the vision, it is 
intended to lead on to the final conquest or overthrow 
of the Eastern Roman Empire, which could only be by 
one of these divisions. I therefore conclude that it 
means four different invasions of the empire of the 
Turks, and different from that of the Saracens. 
The conquest of the Roman Empire west of the 
Euphrates, led by the Turks, was led on by Alp Arslan 
between the years 1063 and 1072, in which part of 
Asia Minor and all Armenia were wrested from the 
empire, and during which 630,000 professed Christians 
were slain. (Gibbon, Vol. V., p. 512.) 

The second conquest was led on by Soliman, a prince 
of the house of Cutulmish, and the whole country from 
Arzeroume to Constantinople was captured by him. 
" Since the decline of the empire, Asia Minor had been 
exposed to the transient, though destructive, inroads 
of the Persians and the Saracens; but the fruits of a 
lasting conquest were reserved for this Turkish sultan." 
(Gibbon, Vol. V., p. 525.) 

The third invasion by the Turks was led by Amu- 
rath, who subdued the whole Province of Roumania, or 
Thrace, from the Hellespont to Mount Haemas, to the 
verge of the capital, and that Adrianople was chosen for 
the royal seat of his government and religion in Eu- 
rope. (Gibbon, Vol. VI., p. 234.) Constantinople 
had hitherto been frequently assailed by barbarians from 
the East and the West ; but never before this fatal hour 
had Constantinople been surrounded, both in Europe 
and Asia, by the armies of the same hostile monarchy. 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST 



65 



(Gibbon, ibid.) From this time on, the Turks col- 
lected customs from the vessels coming into the Helles- 
pont. 

The fourth invasion, or final subversion, of the East- 
ern Koman Empire was led on by Mahomed the Second. 
Says Gibbon : " In the siege of Constantinople by the 
Turks our first attention is to the character and person 
of the great destroyer, Mahomed " — the second. (Vol. 
VI., p. 369.) This Mahomed, on the 29th of May, 
1453, entered the imperial city, and despoiled it of its 
wealth, and stained its streets and sacred edifices with 
the blood of many thousand professed Christians. The 
consternation that seized the hundred thousand inhabit- 
ants of this doomed city, when it was certainly known 
that the city would soon fall into the hands of the 
ferocious and bloodthirsty Turks, can only be imagined, 
but not realized. Nearly all were professed Chris- 
tians, but almost wholly ignorant of its heavenly teach-j 
ing, and now, perhaps for the first time in their lives, 
deplored their sins. They had long been taught to pray, 
and did pray, to the image of the blessed Virgin; yet, 
although the celestial image of the Virgin had been ex- 
posed in solemn procession, their divine patroness was 
deaf to their entreaties. St. Sophia's and the other 
cathedrals of the city had been crowded the evening 
before the dreaded day, and here, with many tears, 
groans and prayers, the people partook of the holy com- 
munion, as they called it, preparatory to deliverance or 
death as the case might be. 

Here for the first time in their lives the citizens of 
this great city heard the roar of cannon (used by the 



06 



THE WOJSTDEBS OF THE 



Turks) and saw the flash of gunpowder during the fifty 
days' progress of this siege. Never before this had the 
fumes and smoke of gunpowder been smelt or seen in 
a human struggle. And, if we will believe it, this is 
the scene that John saw and so graphically describes: 
that " out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and 
brimstone " ; and that by these — the fire, the smoke and 
brimstone — was the third part of men killed. Nothing 
can be cited which more graphically describes a mod- 
ern battle. 

The number of the army of horsemen (Rev. ix. 16) 
is stated in the Greek to be " tivo myriads of myriads " ; 
! just what the literal translation should be I can hardly 
tell, but it is safe to say it was a vast multitude, as the 
| Turkish armies were almost continually in the field, 
| and frequently numbered two hundred thousand horse- 
Imen in a single army, and this, for four hundred years, 
makes an incomprehensible host. The time is symbol- 
ized to be near four hundred years, and it is nearly ex- 
actly this length of time from the time the Turks 
! crossed the river Euphrates, on their western conquest, 
to the fall of Constantinople, which ends the last ves- 
tige of the imperial Bom an Empire. 

I know the Turks had several wars and conflicts 
with the surrounding nations of Europe, after the fall 
of the Roman Empire, but this aftermath does not, as 
I think, enter into the vision. Those six trumpets, as I 
understand them, simply give the steps by which the 
civil empire of Rome was overthrown. The seventh 
trumpet gives the overthrow of the empire of Satan and 
all his emissaries, and the triumph of the Son of God 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



67 



over all enemies, and the establishment of his kingdom 
over all the earth. 

John tells us (Eev. ix. 13) that " he heard a voice 
from the four horns of the golden altar which was 
before God, saying/ 7 etc. It is worthy of note that 
this voice came from the golden altar before God. This 
is the altar of incense, symbolizing the place where the 
prayers of the faithful were offered. Can it be, then, 
that the voice came in response to the prayers of the 
saints ? Doubtless the righteous at heart, who were so 
indeed, who lived in the Eastern Empire, and could see, 
and did see how the church was wickedly manipulated 
by these reigning emperors and empresses — how it was 
torn asunder by them into warring factions and led by 
them into idolatrous practices, corrupting the simplicity 
of the gospel — doubtless these Christians were praying 
that this power might be overthrown. And no doubt 
but that God, in his wisdom, saw that the cup of their 
iniquity was full, and ordered these messengers of death 
turned loose. That this chastisement was just, there 
can be no question; but that its effect upon the rest of 
the pretended followers of Christ was lost, is stated in 
our text (Eev. ix. 20, 21) : " The rest of men who were 
not killed with these plagues, repented not of their 
works, that they should not worship demons, and their 
idols of gold and silver, of brass and of stone and wood, 
which can neither hear, see, nor walk: neither did they 
repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, fornica- 
tions or thefts." And as they did not repent, though 
they had this great object-lesson before them, there re- 
mains the blast of the seventh trumpet that they can 



68 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



not escape. But before this we have some stirring 
scenes set forth in the tenth chapter and to the fifteenth 
verse of the eleventh chapter. 

It would be interesting to the reader to know what 
the Turks are doing in the country, and for the country, 
over which they have the absolute control. I will there- 
fore copy a note from Barnes' "General History/' page 
597 : "The system of organized robbery which is known 
in Europe by the name of the Turkish Government has 
changed into a wilderness one of the fairest regions of 
the world. The population, in spite of the amazing 
wealth of the soil, is steadily declining, and has already 
sunk to less than one-third of its number under the 
Romans. So powerfully does the increasing desolation 
affect the mind, that recent travelers have expressed 
the apprehension that the human race must become ex- 
tinct in the Ottoman dominions. Enormous tracts, 
which formerly supported in comfort a numerous popu- 
lation, are now abandoned. The once populous land is 
covered with ruins, often hid from view by the rank 
vegetation of the fertile wilderness. Between Angora 
and Constantinople, forty or fifty villages have become 
extinct during the present century. Towards Smyrna 
two hundred villages have been forsaken since the mid- 
dle of the last century. Smyrna itself has declined, in 
thirty years, from eighty thousand inhabitants to forty- 
one thousand. During th* present century Candia has 
sunk from fifty thousand inhabitants to ten thousand. 
A traveler in the northern portions of the empire found, 
in a ride of seventy miles through what he regarded as 
an earthly paradise, not so much as a single inhabitant. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



69 



Approaching Constantinople from the north, one rides 
almost to the gates of the city without any trace of a 
road through wild grass that reaches to the horse's girth. 
Nine-tenths of Mesopotamia lies unused by man. In 
the rich provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia only one- 
twentieth of the soil is cultivated. Never has the good- 
ness of Providence been so utterly frustrated during 
long centuries by the vileness of man." 

Supposing these are facts, it must be obvious that 
the Turkish occupancy of its dominion has outlived its 
usefulness, if it ever had any, and we must suppose it- 
had in the mind of God, to remove the stench of a de- 
formed Christianity from that country. And if so base 
a tool could with propriety be used for that purpose, 
what must have been the moral condition of the church 
in that day and age ? The time has now come, however, 
that the gospel is preached in its purity, and there is no 
reason why the Turk should now hedge out the gospel 
that once, under apostolic teaching, blessed that fair 
land. It will be recorded to the eternal shame and 
disgrace of England, and other so-called Christian 
Powers of Europe, that they now must uphold that 
fetish empire to preserve, as they think, the " balance 
of power in Europe." What will this imaginary 
" balance of power " weigh when thrown in one end 
of the scale, and the thousands of souls that are annually 
lost by reason of Turkish rule thrown in the other end 
of the scale? 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE ANGEL WITH THE LITTLE BOOK. 
Rbyelation X. 

We now enter upon the details of the tenth chapter 
of Revelation. Here John sees a celestial being of 
great power " coming down out of heaven, adorned with 
a cloud: and a rainbow upon his head, his face as the 
sun, and his feet as pillars of fire ; who had in his hand 
a little book open; and he set his left foot upon the 
earth, and his right foot upon the ocean. And he cried 
with a loud voice, like the roar of a lion : and when he 
had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. As T 
was about to write what these thunders uttered, I heard 
a voice from heaven, saying, Seal up the things which 
the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. The 
angel which I saw standing upon the sea and land, 
lifted up his right hand to heaven, and sware by him 
that lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens 
and the things therein, and the earth and the things 
which are in it, and the sea and things in it, that 
the time should not be delayed : but that in the days of 
the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to 
sound, the mystery of God shall be accomplished, as he 
has declared those good things by his servants the proph- 
ets " (Rev. x. 1-7). 

Here the word " mystery " is used, not to indicate 
something incomprehensible, but certain valuable di- 
vine truths of good things to come, which he had de- 

_ 70 



REVELATIOX OF JESUS CHRIST. 



71 



clared by the prophets of old, similar to what Peter 
refers to : " The prophets searched diligently as to what 
time or manner the Spirit of Christ which was in 
them did point to, when it testified beforehand of the 
sufferings of Christ, and of the glory that was to fol- 
low " (I. Pet. i. 10, 11). This great secret as to time 
the angel now by oath discloses : that those good things 
shall now, when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, 
be accomplished. If we turn forward to the fifteenth 
verse of chapter xi., we will there see what that oath 
means. John says : " The seventh angel sounded ; and 
there followed loud voices in heaven, saying, The king- 
dom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord 
and his Christ [anointed] ; and he shall reign for ever 
and ever." This is, therefore, one of the things 
prophesied of, to which the angel refers. 

Another thing prophesied of was that God should 
take to him his great power, and reign. Still another' 
thing is sworn to as having been declared by the proph- 
ets ; that is, " The time has come that you should reward 
your servants the prophets, and them who fear your 
name, small and great " (verse 18). Another, " Destroy 
them who destroy the earth." A sample of the first is 
found in Daniel vii. 13, 14. Another prediction con- 
cerning it is found in the second Psalm, as follows: 
" I will declare the decree : the Lord has said unto me, 
You are my Son ; this day have I begotten you.' 7 "Ask 
of me, and I will give you the heathen for your in- 
heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your 
possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron ; 
you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel " 



72 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



(Ps. ii. 8, 9). " Therefore will I divide him a portion 
with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the 
strong" (Isa. liii. 12). Where? When the seventh 
trumpet sounds. I might here give quotation after 
quotation till the reader would be wearied by read- 
ing them, concerning the Lord's anointed and his 
everlasting kingdom, and his rewarding of the right- 
eous when he comes; but the above are sufficient for 
the present. 

I will now return to the tenth chapter. I will re- 
mark, too, that from the grand and sublime imagery 
with which John introduces the substance of this chap- 
ter, he is about to introduce things of great importance. 
And from the solemn manner in which the angel intro- 
duces us to the substance of his oath, we may be sure 
it pertains to matters of great importance. As to the 
contents of the little open book that the angel held and 
gave John with instructions to eat it up having a pleas- 
ant taste and a bitter result, it doubtless contained 
the substance of a future prophecy which John was to 
deliver to the world between the sounding of the sixth 
and seventh trumpets. Just how this was to be done 
we can not certainly determine, but we can rest assured 
that John in person will not appear to do this ; yet we 
may reasonably conclude that if some one could make 
the revelation of John plain and correct about the 
things in the first fourteen verses of the eleventh chap- 
ter, he would probably solve the mystery. The reader 
will notice that this little book and the instruction 
therewith finishes up the tenth chapter, and is pre- 
paratory to the first fourteen verses of chapter xi. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 73 

The reader ought to know that these breaks, caused 
by the introduction of a new chapter, are not of divine 
origin, and sometimes interfere with the sense, and 
this is, I think, one of the places where the break is 
unfortunate, and especially so if the substance of the 
prophecy which J ohn was to again make known to many 
nations is contained in the following fourteen verses. 
Of course, the things symbolized by these verses are 
very obscure. One person, namely, the great solar-time 
chronologist, Mr. Dingleby, of England, was so sure 
that he could unlock one important mystery therein, 
that he said he would stake his reputation as a scientist 
that J erusalem would be restored to the J ews in March, 
1898. William Miller was just as sure the Lord 
would come again in 1844, but Miller failed, and so 
did Dingleby. So these failures ought to teach us that, 
as we are not inspired to interpret these symbols, we 
are liable to be mistaken, and, instead of saying we 
know so and so, we should rather say we think so. 



CHAPTER X. 



MEASURING THE TEMPLE, ETC. 
Revelation xi. 1-14. 

John says : " There was given ine a reed like a rod : 
and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, 
and the altar, and them who worship therein." Inter- 
preters are so universally agreed about the symbolic 
temple here signifying the Church of Christ, that 
I need not spend but little time to prove it. The truth 
is, the old temple was typical of the Church of Christ, 
and as a type ceased when the Church of Christ was 
fully organized; hence Paul says to the Corinthian 
brethren : " Know you not that you are the temple of 
God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? . . . 
The temple of God is holy, which temple you are M 
(I. Cor. iii. 16, 17). Then, again, the old temple of 
God at Jerusalem was not in existence when John 
wrote, nor had it been for twenty-five years, so there can 
be no reference here to that temple. It is evident it 
has reference to the Church of Christ. It is therefore 
equivalent to telling John to arise, take the dimensions 
of Christianity, and of them who are sacrificed for 
Christ and of them who worship in this spiritual tem- 
ple. The altar stood before the door of the temple and 
in the inner court. I say this because I read from 
some blundering scribe not long ago that the altar stood 
in the outer court, which, any one can see is not true by 
referring to Exodus xl., and elsewhere in the law. 

74 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 75 

" But the court which is without the temple [that 
is, the outer court] leave out, and measure it not ; for 
it is given unto the nations ; and the holy city shall they 
tread under foot forty-two months. And I will give 
power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy 
twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth" 
(Rev. xi. 2, 3). The Gentiles, under the law of Moses, 
could approach to the outer court, which was there- 
fore sometimes called the court of the Gentiles; but 
they were never allowed access to the inner court, on 
pain of death. In Christianity the true temple, the 
altar and the inner court pertain to the Church of 
Christ. None of the uncircumcised in heart, who 
have not their sins separated from them (cut off), 
have any right in the spiritual temple of Christ. The 
Jews, being uncircumcised in the flesh, had access to 
the inner court of the old temple ; but here in Revela- 
tion xi. 2, 3, as John saw it, the unbelieving J ew could 
only approach to the outer court of the spiritual tem- 
ple. John is here told that this outer court (meaning 
the unbelieving Jews, as I think) is not to be propheti- 
cally measured, for the reason that they are delivered 
over to the nations, who will tread them under foot for 
forty-two months. This is implied by the symbol of 
the " holy city." It is an interesting and a peculiar 
fact that the unbelieving Jews were immediately cut 
off from access to the city of Jerusalem upon its de- 
struction by Titus, A. D. 70. They, however, had 
some settlements in the northern part of Palestine, 
and at Tiberias they had a chief rabbi till the Saracens 
dispossessed them about A. D. 630-37. Since then 



76 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



the Saracens, though tolerating the Jews elsewhere, 
never allowed them in or about Jerusalem or Palestine ; 
never till the treaty with Turkey, at the close of the 
Crimean War, were they tolerated at Jerusalem. 
Even in the days of the Roman Catholic king Godfrey, 
and his successors for a hundred years at Jerusalem, 
neither Jew nor Mahomedan dared place a foot in 
Jerusalem. 

Jesus of Nazareth said : " When you see Jerusalem 
compassed with armies, then know that her desolation 
is at hand" (Luke xxi. 20). Further on he said: 
" They [the Jews] shall fall by the edge of the sword, 
and shall be led captive into all nations: and Jerusa- 
lem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (verse 24). And 
here in Revelation xi. 2, the Gentiles symbolically 
trample the holy city under foot for forty-two months, 
or twelve hundred and sixty days. This, as I see it, 
is the first certain intimation we have in this book 
that " days " symbolize years. I do not wish to say 
that this term invariably means years, but such may be 
the fact. But the Jews, as I said above, were not 
entirely dispossessed from Palestine till the Saracens 
drove them out A. D. 630-38. It has been supposed, 
therefore, that, as these dates fixed the complete expul- 
sion of the Jews from Palestine, possibly John's sym- 
bolical time of forty-two months might begin with A. D. 
638, and would therefore end in 1898. It was the con- 
fidence reposed in this hypothesis that emboldened Mr. 
Dingleby, the great English chronologist, to stake his 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



77 



reputation that Jerusalem would revert to the Jews in 
March, 1898. 

Some thirty years ago I inclined to this view, and 
looked forward to 1898 as the time of the probable re- 
turn of the Jews; but there is another item that may 
figure here to prolong the time. Those two witnesses 
evidently prophesy for the same period of time clothed 
in sackcloth, at the end of which time they are slain 
by the beast that ascends out of the abyss — the Mahom- 
edan power, if I have rightly interpreted the symbolism 
of the fifth trumpet, for this is all the beast mentioned 
in this book up to this time. After these witnesses are 
slain, they " lay three days and a half in the streets 
of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom 
and Egypt, where also the Lord was crucified. And 
the people of the tribes, tongues and nations look upon 
their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not 
their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And they who 
dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry, 
and send gifts to one another ; because these two proph- 
ets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. And 
after three days and a half the breath of life from God 
entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and 
great fear fell upon them who beheld them. And they 
heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, 
Come up here. And they ascended to heaven in a 
cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And in that 
hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part 
of the city fell, and there were seven thousand per- 
sons slain : and the rest were frightened, and gave glory 
to the God of heaven" (Rev. xi. 7-14). There is evi~ 



T8 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



dently a great variety of symbols here, and upon the 
correct interpretation of them depends the value of our 
efforts to unfold or grasp their meaning. 

EXCURSUS ON SYMBOLS. 

In addition to what I have already said about sym- 
bols, I wish to say here that no rigid or inflexible rule 
can be adopted by which to interpret them. We must 
largely depend on the contextual bearing of the pas- 
sage in Avhich they are found, and even then we may 
mistake them; so that great caution is needed at every 
step in the unfolding of symbols. I am forced to this 
conclusion by a careful examination of their use by the 
prophet Daniel and other prophets. In Daniel ii. we 
have the four kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece 
and Rome symbolized by the image of a man, con- 
structed of gold, silver, brass and iron, and in the sev- 
enth chapter we have the very same kingdoms symbol- 
ized by four ferocious wild beasts — Babylon by a lion 
with eagle's wings ; Persia by a bear with three ribs in 
its mouth; Greece by a leopard with four wings and 
four heads ; Rome by a dreadful and very strong beast, 
having great iron teeth, etc. In the eighth chapter we 
again have Persia and Greece differently symbolized. 
This time Persia is represented by a ram, and Greece 
by a goat. It would, therefore, be impossible to divine 
their meaning by these symbols alone; but, by. taking 
the various statements connected therewith and the 
partial interpretation thereof, we arrive very cor- 
rectly at their meaning, !N~ow, Revelation xi. 7-14, 
compared with ix. 13-21, where the location is partly 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



79 



given, enables us to locate the results of this sixth trum- 
pet, and the locality where these things occur. 

" Their dead bodies [John says] lay in the streets 
of the great city, which is spiritually called [this is 
another indication that it has a symbolical meaning] 
Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified" (verse 
8). This fixes, to some extent, the geographical loca- 
tion where these witnesses were prophesying and slain. 
It is not, however, as I see it, a literal city like Jeru- 
salem, Antioch or Alexandria; but it had a spiritual 
significance. It was like Sodom and Egypt — desper- 
ately wicked, and embracing the country where our 
Lord was crucified. This, taken in connection with the 
symbol of the great river Euphrates (ix. 14), enables us 
to suppose it is the Mahomedan Empire which con- 
stitutes the great city symbolized. Again, it is the 
beast that ascends out of the " abyss " that overcomes 
them and kills them. If, therefore, this beast is the 
Mahomedan power, then they are slain by it, and, of 
course, in the Mahomedan dominion. 

It is worth considerable in this investigation to 
properly fix the geographical location where these things 
occur, for if they occurred in the Mahomedan Empire, 
then they did not occur in the infidel revolution in 
France, as some hold. Neither can I adopt the idea 
that those two witnesses are the Old and New Testa- 
ments. In fact, the two olive trees, and the powers 
attached to them in verses 3-6, make it very difficult 
to identify them. We must also suppose them exist- 
ing in a state of humiliation, as they prophesy in the 
same period wherein the outer court is under the heel 



80 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



of the heathen for twelve hundred and sixty years. 
But, as they are said to be two candlesticks, which ia. 
this book are interpreted to be churches (Rev. i. 20), 
we may with great reason inquire as to whether or not 
it may not mean churches here, and this is made 
further probable by the statement that " they stand 
before the God of the earth." That is, they stand to 
give light before God in the earth. And again, " If 
any man injures them, fire proceeds out of their mouth 
and devours their enemies." That is, I suppose, the 
words and acts of these churches bear witness against 
their enemies. "You [said Jesus] shall be brought 
before kings and rulers for a testimony against them " 
(Matt. x. 18). "If any man hurts them, he must in 
this manner be killed. 

I will now state that I looked forward for some 
thirty years for a massacre of Christians in Turkey 
in the years 1897 or 1898, to fill the prediction of the 
slaughter of these two witnesses; but nothing so far 
has filled my expectations, unless it be the slaughter of 
the Armenian Christians and the slaughter of the Cre- 
tan Christians; but this comes very close to meeting 
the demand. It is true of them that the dead bodies 
of these two witnesses for God lay stretched out in the 
sight of many people, tribes, tongues and nations, and, 
while the slaughter was going on, those poor Armenians 
$nd Cretans stretched out their hands to the so-called 
Christian world, imploring help, but none came. In 
fact, all help was refused ; not even the right of Chris- 
tian sepulture was granted them. When poor, bleed- 
ing Greece would have interposed to give them decent; 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



81 



burial, " the nations, tribes and people " forbade them 
to interfere. Their bodies were burned, mutilated, 
outraged, and thrown into pits and holes like beasts of 
the earth. The action of these so-called Christian na- 
tions in refusing any sympathy to these Armenian 
and Cretan Christians, virtually saying to the blood- 
thirsty Turks, " You did right," is an eternal disgrace 
to those jealous nations who bare rule, and could have 
stopped the slaughter if they would, or, at least, could 
have insured to them decent burial. As to how those 
nations will justify their action before God in his great 
judgment day, is a question for them to ponder. 
Surely, the "balance of power" that prompted their 
action will fall into insignificance when their case comes 
up before God. 

" And they who dwelt upon the earth rejoiced over 
them, and made merry, and sent gifts one to another ; 
because these two prophets troubled them who dwelt 
upon the earth " (verse 10). It is also unquestionably 
true that the Turks did and still do rejoice over their 
foul butchery; and that they have been able to defy 
the Christian world. And the great indemnity fund 
extorted from Greece enables them to send gifts to one 
another; and without doubt they do it. 

" But after three days and a half the Spirit of 
life from God entered into them." These " three days 
and a half " must evidently symbolize years, because 
three days and a half would not suffice for the actions 
of those nations, tongues, tribes and people, here re- 
quired by the imagery. It remains, therefore, to be 
seen whether or not deliverance will come from God 



82 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



at the end of three years and a half. The fortunes of 
the Turkish Empire are tottering in the balance, and 
it need not surprise any one to find that "the great earth- 
quake/' which comes at the close of this time, that 
causes the tenth part of the city (empire) to fall, will 
simply be some conquering power that will overcome the 
Turks, and wrest a tenth part of their empire from 
them. This would, of course, have the effect to 
frighten them, and cause them to give in. So Mr. 
Dingleby and myself may have to wait till the close of 
three years and a_half, and probably longer, before 
Palestine will be open for the return of the Jews, 
provided we are reasonably correct about the out- 
er court and the commencement of its possession 
by the nations. 

I must remark here that I have read some ex- 
positors who broaden out these "three days and a half " 
iinto years, and then change these three and a half years 
into 1,260 days, and then these days into years, mak- 
ing this symbol of clays mean three hundred and sixty 
times more than the symbol was ever intended to mean. 
I have no patience with this kind of double dealing; 
I had almost said this rascally and deceitful way of 
handling the word of God. 

I must here call attention to the fact stated by 
John, that " the second woe is past, and the third comes 
quick " ; that is, the sounding of the seventh trumpet 
creates a great stir in heaven, that is loud with acclama- 
tions that " the kingdom of the world has become the 
kingdom of the Lord's Anointed/' That the sounding 
of the six trumpets pertains to the destruction of the 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



83 



imperial Koman Empire, I have already tried to show ; 
there is, however, an interval between those events and 
the sounding of the seventh trumpet that is filled up 
in part by the history of those two witnesses, that closes 
when the seventh angel sounds. 



CIIAPTEE XL 

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 
Revelation xi. 15-19. 

At the sounding of this trumpet we approach one of 
the most noted events that the world up to this 
time ever saw. So great was this leading event that 
& mighty angel, with uplifted hand to heaven invoking 
the name of almighty God, declares, in substance, that 
when the seventh trumpet shall begin to sound, then 
shall be consummated the promises of God, which he 
had made through his servants the prophets. Then 
the time shall have come for the people of the Lord 
to inherit these promises. And as this reaches a time 
when the things therein called for could not be defeated 
by man, they are not necessarily obscured by symbols— 
hence all the more interesting. 

We will then turn to Eevelation xi. 15, where this 
seventh angel sounds, and see what follows: "And the 
seventh, angel sounded; and there followed great voices 
in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and his Christ 
[anointed] ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.* . . . 
The nations were angry, and thy wrath has come, and. 
the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and 
your servants the prophets, and your saints, and those 
who fear your name, small and great, should be re- 

* Note.— I omit the praise here, as not matter predicted by the proph- 
ets, of which we are inquiring now. 
84 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



85 



warded; and the time to destroy those who lay waste 
the earth." 

It is the predictions of the prophets to which the 
angel has called our attention that I now wish to in- 
quire into — those things John heard when the 
seventh angel sounded, predicted by the prophets. 
The universal and everlasting reign of the Lord 
over all the world is the first great event. Daniel 
vii. 13, 14 is a prediction of the very same import. 
He says : " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one 
like the Son of man came in the clouds of heaven, and 
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him 
near before him. And there was given him dominion, 
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, 
and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an 
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and 
his Yingdom shall not be destroyed." And the same 
thing is repeated in another form in the twenty-seventh 
verse. David is also talking about the same thing 
when he says : " I will declare the decree : Jehovah 
has said unto me, You are my Son; this day have 1 
begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the 
heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for your possession. You shall break 
them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to 
pieces as a potters vessel" (Ps. ii. 7-9). 

In Acts xiii. 33 Paul quotes from this seventh 
verse, and applies it to Christ; so we know that the 
eighth verse also applies to Christ, but evidently in 
the future, as the heathen are not yet dashed to pieces 
in the uttermost parts of the earth, which is promised 



86 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



him for his possession; and are to be dashed to pieces 
by him as indicated in Revelation ii. 18 — " destroy 
them who lay waste the earth." 

Revelation xi. 18 must also refer to the time of his 
second coming, as it is the time of the rewarding of 
his saints, which can not be till he conies again. And 
as this is the time the kingdom of the world becomes 
the Lord's in an absolute sense, in which he continues 
to reign, it brings us to the time of the resurrection of 
his saints, as declared by Paul in I. Corinthians xv. 
23 : " Christ the firstfruits [of the resurrection] ; then 
they who are his when he comes " ; which is certainly 
the time to reward the righteous dead, as in Revela- 
tion xi. 18. 

I now ask the question, Why should he be installed 
the King of the world at this time if it is to be no 
more when He comes ? Daniel, as we see, says, "All 
people, nations, and languages, shall serve and obey 
him." This could not be if the world is to be no 
more when the Lcrd comes, because Paul tells us that 
" when all things [including death] are put under him, 
he delivers up the kingdom to God his Father " (I. 
Cor. xv. 28). The Lord said concerning certain things 
that would indicate his second coming, that, when they 
saw them come to pass, they should know that the 
kingdom of God was nigh. (See Luke xxi. 31.) So, 
also, II. Peter i. 10, 11 says: " If they do these things, 
they shall never fall, but an abundant entrance shall 
be ministered unto them into the everlasting kingdom 
of the Lord Jesus Christ." This contemplates the 
entrance into the everlasting kingdom of Christ when 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



87 



he comes again; and Kevelation xi. 15 and Daniel vii. 
13, 14 certainly indicate his earthly installment into 
that everlasting kingdom, to last while the world lasts. 
But I. Corinthians xv. 24-28 certainly contemplates 
the surrender of that kingdom at the close of the world. 
Now, in the very nature of things, these two events 
(the installment, and the divestment of the Lord) can 
not take place simultaneously, otherwise language can 
have no meaning. 

This does not conflict in the least with the present 
phase of the kingdom, which is without doubt a pre- 
paratory state of the kingdom, both for the Lord and 
his people; into the full fruition of which they both 
enter at the resurrection of the saints when the Lord 
comes. In Kevelation xx. 4-6 we undoubtedly have 
the same resurrection of which Paul speaks in I. Cor- 
inthians xv. 23, " They who are Christ's when he 
comes." In Kevelation xx. 4-6 John says : " I saw 
thrones, and those who sat upon them, and judgment 
was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them 
who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and 
for the word of God; . . . and they lived and reigned 
with Christ a thousand years. . . . This is the first 
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in 
the first resurrection: over these the second death has 
no power, but they shall be priests of God and of 
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." 

Some, to destroy the force of these plain statements, 1 
and to negative a personal reign of Christ here on earth 
after he comes, claim that this language of Kevelation 
xx. 4-6 is symbolical, and, as such, does not mean what 



88 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



it says. The question, then, is, What does it mean? 
What event can it signify other than what it says? 
Does the reign of Christ in the passage mean no reign ? 
And does this resurrection of the dead mean no resur- 
rection at all ? And is the promise to these dead, that 
they should have part in the first resurrection, and 
reign with Christ a thousand years before the other 
dead are resurrected — is this promise merely a mean- 
ingless waste of words ? Is it but a collection of false 
statements held out here to allure the faithful followers 
of Christ, to nerve them up to lose their heads for 
him, and which must utterly fail ? Are these precious 
promised to be used as the chaff in the snare to decoy 
the bird ? Surely not ! We dare not attribute such 
things to our heavenly Father. Let us conclude that 
these precious promises are to be verified to the full. 
Neither can I see any reason why these statements 
should be obscured or covered up in symbols. 

We arrive here, in the twentieth chapter of Reve- 
lation, at a period of time in the history of the world 
when the things named can not be thwarted by human 
ingenuity or power. They can not interfere with the 
resurrection of the dead, nor with the Lord's power to 
reward these righteous dead; hence I see no need of 
these things being obscured by symbols. Therefore, 
until something better is presented, I prefer to take 
these promises to mean just what they say ; and if they 
do so mean, then there is a personal reign of Christ 
here on earth that is to last a thousand years. 

Persons who hold that there can be no personal 
reign, ought to be able to bring forward some Scripture 



BEVELATION" OF JESTJS CHRIST. 



89 



that would show it to be impossible. But if they did, 
it would only make that Scripture and Eevelation xx. 
4.-6 contradictory, which could not be tolerated for a 
moment. Doubtless Matthew xxv. 31-46 is the strong- 
est proof in all the New Testament for a complete 
wind-up of all things human when the Lord comes. 
It says: " When the Son of man shall come in his 
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he 
'sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall 
be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them 
one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep 
from the goats : and he shall set the sheep on his right 
hand, but the goats upon his left. Then shall the 
King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world." 

It is assumed, by those who deny the personal reign 
of a thousand years, that all the dead and all the living 
shall stand before the Lord in this judgment, and that 
this all takes place immediately when he comes. But 
this is not all stated in the text — is only inferred ; and, 
like all other inferences, may be wrong. The Lord 
does not give us any definite clue to the time when 
this is to be, whether at the beginning or at the end of 
his reign. There is one thing certain, that if all the 
living and all the dead are before the Lord here in 
Matthew xxv., then this scene comes at the close of his 
reign and must necessarily be the resurrection and 
judgment of Revelation xx. 11-15, because this does 
come at the close of the world, at what Paul calls et the 
end " — the time when he is to " deliver up the kingdom 



90 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



to God the Father " (I. Cor. xv. 23, 24). But the first 
resurrection of John (Eev. xx. 4-6) occurs a thousand 
years earlier in the history of the world. I con- 
clude, therefore, that Matthew xxv. 31-46 in no way 
conflicts with Eevelation xx. 4-6, and that there is to 
be in reality this first resurrection of the righteous 
dead when the Lord comes, and that they live and 
reign with Christ a thousand years. The only thing 
to determine is where this reign shall be — here on 
earth or in heaven ; for Jesus said " that where I am, 
there you shall be also " ; and Eevelation v. 10 
says : " They shall reign upon the earth/' Surely this 
ought to settle the matter as to where this reign 
is to be. 

While I am upon this theme, it might be well to 
inquire if there are not other Scriptures of the proph- 
ets that come within the scope of the angel's oath (Eev. 
x. 7), as things declared by the prophets pertaining 
to this consummation. Of course, Acts iii. 20, 21 is one 
passage, but this has already been referred to. We 
learn from Peter (Acts iii. 19-21) that God has spoken 
about these things " by his prophets since the world 
began." We may, then, rest assured that this great 
consummation has been the theme of holy men long 
before our Lord first appeared. And we may reason- 
ably expect that such prophets as Moses, Isaiah ? Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel, Daniel, David, and some of the minor 
prophets, should have somewhat to say about the glori- 
ous consummation, as well as the New Testament writ- 
ers. In Moses, however, these things appear largely 
in type, but in the other prophets we shall find them 



.REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



91 



more direct, and in the New Testament writers even 
more so. 

For example, when Peter (II. Peter i. 10, 11) said, 
" Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and 
election sure: for if you do these things, you shall 
never fall: but you shall be richly supplied with an 
abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," he had reference to 
this consummation spoken of in Eevelation xi. 15-18. 
There is hardly any need of misunderstanding Peter 
here. These persons addressed by Peter were already 
in the present phase of Christ's kingdom — in that pre- 
paratory phase in which they were in training for the 
great consummation; and Peter here is putting them 
through the drill that they may eventually enter the 
everlasting kingdom. Without doubt this kingdom is 
to be continued after the Lord comes, when the wicked 
and unbelieving portion of mankind will be destroyed, 
the devil chained, and a reign of peace and right- 
eousness prevail throughout the earth, and will pre- 
vail until the devil is unchained, and the people 
again deceived. 

As to what the order of things may be in this new 
dispensation, I do not wish to affirm, though I hardly 
think that the gospel as now preached will be preached 
then, because no longer a necessity, as now, for all the 
world will then be in the kingdom of the Lord. Pos- 
sibly a very small minority may not be entirely right- 
eous; as Isaiah says (and merely of that time) : " The 
sinner of a hundred years shall be accursed " (Isa. lxv. 
20). Now, however, the balance-sheet stands the other 



92 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



way: but few are entirely righteous, making it neces- 
sary now to call out and separate unto the Lord the 
prospective heirs of that future kingdom. But it is 
to be the same everlasting kingdom of Daniel vii. 13, 
14, 27, and the very same as Revelation xi. 15. 

I think many Christian writers have made a mis- 
take in applying many of those great prophecies of 
the old prophets, that pertain to this consummation, 
to the first advent of our Lord. While they may 
faintly symbolize some of the leading features of gos- 
pel times, they fall far short of my conception of those 
shadowed events. Take Isaiah ii. 2-4 and Micah iv. 
1-7 as examples : " It shall come to pass in the last 
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
established in the top of the mountains, and be exalted 
above the hills ; and all nations shall flow into it. 
'And many people shall say, Come, and let us go up to 
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will 
walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the 
law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he 
shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people : 
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and 
their spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more." If we take this language to be highly 
figurative, which it doubtless is, yet the spiritual sense 
of the forecast ought to be filled up in all its minutiae 
in the past history of the church, if it was to be filled by 
it. By straining the figure largely, we could make it 
apply till we reach the last verse, where " nation shall 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



93 



not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
war any more." This we can not apply to the church 
within nor to the nations without. This happy time 
has never yet come ; nation still lifts up sword against 
nation ; even in Christianity itself, if we would dare to 
nationalize it, there is war. The fifty millions of 
Christian martyrs, who have fallen in its ranks by the 
hands of so-called Christians, forbid any such applica- 
tion to the past history of the church. [ 
Micah (iv. 1-3), after using nearly exactly the 
language of Isaiah, adds : " Every man shall sit under 
his vine and under his fig tree ; and none shall make 
them afraid. The mouth of the Lord of hosts has 
spoken it. . . . And I will make the remnant of her 
that is halt and cast off, a strong nation: and the Lord 
shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, 
even forever. For unto you, daughter of Zion, 
shall come the first dominion." It is impossible to 
spiritualize this so as to make it applicable to the; 
church of the past. But let us suppose it to refer to' 
the time when the kingdoms of the world have become 
the Lord's, then there is no difficulty whatever; it will 
all apply. It is not possible to conceive of the Lord's 
personal reign here — when, as is written, " all nations 
shall serve and obey Mm " — and his enforcing the prin-j 
ciples of righteousness which he taught in his sermon 
on the mount, as he certainly will, and then that there 
should be war, confusion and wickedness as there is to- 
day in the church and out of it. If nations could not 
be deceived, as in Revelation xx. 3, then, of course, war 
would cease. 



04 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



Let us now consider some important prophecies 
from Isaiah. The sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah (after 
the sixteenth verse) and all of the sixty-sixth chapter 
doubtless refer to the second advent of our Lord, and 
to the times following it. " Behold, I create a new 
heaven and a new earth: and the former shall not be 
remembered, nor conle into mind. But be you glad, 
and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, 
I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my peo- 
ple: and the voice of weeping shall no more be 
heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be 
no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that 
has not filled his days: for the child shall die at one 
hundred years old. . , . They shall build houses, 
and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and 
eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and an- 
other inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for 
as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and 
my elect shall long enjoy the work of their bands. They 
shall not. labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for 
they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their 
offspring with them " (Isa. Ixv. 17-23). 

I am not in doubt at all about the proper appli- 
cation of this Scripture as to time, because Peter 
quotes this nineteenth verse of the sixty-fifth chapter 
of Isaiah and applies it to "the day of the Lord ',' or the 
second coming of the Lord. He says : " Neverthe- 
less we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven 
and a new earth, wherein righteousness dwells." This 
is the only promise to which he could refer; and he 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



95 



says righteousness is to dwell in that new earth. This 
is easily gathered from the detailed condition of things 
therein, as quoted above from Isaiah : " They shall build 
houses, and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards, 
and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and 
another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat," 
etc. And why ? Because " they are the children of 
the blest of the Lord, and their offspring with them," 
and therefore the Lord blesses them with this peace 
and abundance. Then, Peter and Isaiah are talk- 
ing about the same thing, and, as one mentions some 
things not mentioned by the other, and vice versa, I 
will consider II. Peter iii. 1-13 and Isaiah lxv. 17-23 
together, and thus try to bring out all the facts of this 
glorious event, mentioned by them both. 

Peter's statement, then, pertains to the second 
coming of the Lord, and the fearful visitation of wrath 
upon the wicked when he does come ; with the welcome 
exhortation to the righteous to be diligent, that they 
may be counted worthy to inherit the promise of the 
new heaven and new earth when he does come — " where- 
in the righteous dwell" But Isaiah leaves out this 
fearful doom of the wicked, and treats almost wholly 
of the blessedness of the righteous in this new order of 
things. We learn from Isaiah that it is this earth 
where this righteous condition of things is to prevail. 
When he says, "the former" (heavens nnd earth) 
" shall not be remembered, or come into mind," I do 
not understand him to use these expressions in the 
sense of " forgotten," but in the sense that the new con- 
dition of things so far surpasses the old in comfort, 



96 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



righteousness and happiness that the former condition 
of happiness, etc., will not be remembered or desired 
in comparison with the latter. And to justify this, he 
proceeds to detail its superior excellence. Then, as I 
understand Isaiah, his statements are not to be figured 
away as symbols, but are to be taken as far more literal 
than many would-be interpreters suppose. 

While Peter's quotation from Isaiah makes it appli- 
cation in time very certain, and in immediate connection 
with the second advent of our Lord, we nevertheless 
have some data in Isaiah lxv. itself that will enable us 
to fix its location in time, to which I now call the read- 
er's attention. In Romans x. 20, 21 Paul quotes the 
two first verses of this sixty-fifth chapter, and applies it 
to the gospel time. He says : " Isaiah is very bold, and 
says, I was found of them that sought me not; I was 
made manifest to them who asked not after me. But 
of Israel he says, All the day long I have stretched 
forth my hands unto a disobedient and a gainsaying 
people." Here the apostle applies this quotation to the 
call of the Gentiles by the gospel, and that Israel rejects 
it. The truth is, God, foreseeing that the Gentiles 
would accept the gospel and that the Jews as a nation 
would reject it, moved Isaiah 3 some six hundred years 
beforehand, to make a note of certain facts connected 
with the gospel, from the appearance of Jesus of Naz- 
areth down to A. D. 70, beginning with the first verse 
and closing with the fifteenth verse of this sixty-fifth 
chapter; showing, first, that the Gentiles would accept 
the gospel, and Israel reject it, and walk in a way that 
was not good, but after their own imagination (verses 



KEVELATION" OF JESUS CHEIST. 



97 



2-5). And in the sixth and seventh verses are threats 
of vengeance against Israel: with the further state- 
ment in verse 8 that a remnant was to be saved, or es- 
cape, from whom in the distant future he would bring 
forth out of Jacob an inheritor of the holy mountains 
of the Lord; who should inherit the land (verse 9). 
Then he turns back again upon Israel of gospel time 
in verse 11, and accuses them of forsaking the Lord, 
and in verse 12 says he would number them to the sword 
acd slaughter, because when the Lord called (by the 
gospel) they would not hear. Then he contrasts their 
wretched condition with the blessings of his servants 
in verses 13 and 14, till he reaches the fifteenth verse, 
and then he says : " They [the Jews] should leave 
their name for a curse unto the chosen of the Lord ; for 
the Lord God shall slay you, and call his servants by 
another name." 

This reaches down the stream of time to A. D. 70, 
when the Lord God caused them to be overthrown, be- 
cause they rejected his call to mercy. The time when 
God called his servants by another name is supposed to 
be A. D. 43, at Antioch, when God surely directed Paul 
and Barnabas to call them " Christians " (Acts xi. 26). 
The sixteenth verse seems to contemplate a space or 
lapse of time in which God seemingly forgets his ancient 
troubles with Israel, and prepares to score a new order 
of . things in verse 17 — a new heavens and a new earth 
— when Israel again comes in remembrance before God 
to bless them. 

Here is a tremendous break in time of nearly two 
thousand years, from A. D. 70 down to now, and be- 



98 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



yond to some time yet future. This leap of time by 
the prophet is a logical necessity, as Israel from A. D. 
70 till now, and beyond, have not been the people of 
God, and will not be till he gathers them back into their 
own land, and the time comes when God will make 
the new heaven and new earth, or near that time. Then 
will be brought about the new order of things men- 
tioned by Isaiah from the seventeenth to the twenty- 
third verse. This makes perfect harmony between 
Isaiah and Peter, both in time and substance. 

Suppose we ask Peter as to what is the condition 
of things just prior to entering upon e< the new heav- 
ens and the new earth? that he and Isaiah are talking 
about. Peter would answer : " We know there shall 
come scoffers in the last days, who will walk after their 
own lusts, and say, Where is the promise of his com- 
ing ? for since the fathers have fallen asleep, all things 
continue as they were from the beginning of creation. 
For they are wilfully ignorant of the past that by the 
word of God the heavens existed of old, and the earth 
stood in the water and out of the water : and the world 
that then was being overflowed with water perished: 
but the heavens and the earth, which now exist, by that 
same word of God are kept in store, reserved unto fire 
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly 
men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, 
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and 
a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack con- 
cerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but 
is long-suffering to us, not willing that any should per- 
ish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day 



KEVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



99 



of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in which 
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also 
and the works that are in it shall be burned up. Seeing 
all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of per- 
sons ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness, 
looking for and hastening to the day of God, in which 
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat? ^Nevertheless 
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and 
a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness " (II. Pet. 
iii. 3-13). 

There is an apparent difficulty here in interpreting 
Peter chronologically. The order in which he names 
the events of that hour would lead us to the conclusion 
that the " new heavens and the new earth " are to suc- 
ceed its renovation by fire, and this may be so ; but it is 
not so stated, and the way in which Peter states the fact 
of the new earth, etc, would make it admissible to con- 
clude that, after stating the fearful ordeal through 
which the earth is to pass, he would, bring forward 
this promise to cheer his readers with the hope that they, 
if faithful, would be permitted to share in this new 
order of things ere the world passed through the fearful 
ordeal which he names, which may come up when fire 
comes down from God out of heaven and devours them 
(Rev. xx. 7-9), and about the time the heavens and the 
earth flee away and no place is found for them (Rev. 
xx. 11). This would surely locate the new heavens, 
etc., of Isaiah before the final end, and, if Peter and 
Isaiah mean the same thing, this new order come? be- 
L.ofC. 



100 THE WONDERS OF THE 

fore the final destruction. In this case the new heavens 
and the new earth of Revelation xxi. 1 is another thing, 
and still far more glorious, of which the "new" etc., of 
Isaiah may be taken as a type. 

But Peter's renovation by fire may have a different 
meaning, which, owing to Peter's way of speaking, is 
also admissible and quite plausible. He tells us that 
" whereby [that is, by the word of God] the heavens 
and the earth which then existed, being overflowed with 
water, perished." Yet we are quite sure he did not mean 
that they were annihilated, but that the wicked of the 
earth, and their wicked works, perished. And he cer- 
tainly contrasts that destruction in Noah's time with 
the coming renovation by fire. Certain it is that there 
will be a fearful destruction of the wicked of earth, 
and their wicked works, when the Lord comes, analo- 
gous to the destruction in Noah's time, only the former 
was by water, while the latter is by fire. Whether this 
fire of Peter is used by him as symbolical (in which 
sense it is often used in Scripture, of great woe and 
suffering), or of literal fire, it contemplates a sweeping 
destruction of the wicked. But, if symbolical, it 
means a destruction in the flesh and not the final 
doom of the wicked in the lake of fire of Bevelation 
xx. 14, 15. 

It is possible, too, that Malachi and Peter have the 
same destruction in mind, for the former says : " Be- 
hold, the days come that shall burn as an oven; and 
all the proud, yea, and all who do wickedly, shall be 
stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, 
saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither 



REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 



101 



root nor branch. . . . And they shall be as ashes under 
the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith 
the Lord of hosts " (Mai. iv. 1-3). If this in Malachi 
refers to the same great day of the Lord as spoken of by 
Peter, I incline to think the earth is not to be literally 
destroyed at this time referred to; but the destruction 
will be so great as to justify the very strong language 
of Peter, and possibly the same destruction given in 
symbol in Kevelation — the pouring out of the seven 
vials of wrath. 

But now to return to Isaiah lxv. 17-23, to that glo- 
rious condition of things ever been realized upon the 
her it and enjoy the labor of their hands, where none 
dare molest or make afraid. And I ask, Has this glo- 
rious condition of things ever been realized upon the 
earth ? You will certainly answer no ! What, then ! is 
the prophecy a failure ? Surely not. ISTor can we 
pass, for its solution, beyond this earth to the realms 
of the glorified spirits, for they neither sow nor reap, 
plant nor build. JSTo, this will not do, so we must refer 
this happy condition of our earth to the future, and to 
the time following the second appearance of our Lord, 
as they are not likely to occur before it. 

'Now, let us proceed. " Your brethren who hated 
you, and cast you out for my name's sake, and said, 
Let the Lord be glorified: he shall appear to your joy, 
and they shall be ashamed" (Isa. lxvi. 5). This is just 
as the Lord said it should be. " There shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom 
of God, and you yourselves thrust out " (Luke xiii. 28), 



102 



THE WOISTDEES OF THE 



Behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his 
chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, 
and his rehnke with flames of fire. For by fire and by 
his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the 
slain of the Lord shall be many. ... I know 
their work and their thoughts, and it shall come to pass 
that I will gather all nations and tongues ; and they 
shall come, and see my glory" (Isa. lxvi. 15-18). "And 
it shall come to pass, that from month to month, and 
from week to week, shall all flesh come to worship before 
me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look 
upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed 
against me ; for there the worm shall not die, nor shall 
the fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring 
unto all flesh" (Isa. lxvi. 23, 24). 

It is utterly impossible to refer all these things 
to the past; they must, therefore, be future. While 
these last quotations indicate a great destruction of the 
human family, yet that destruction centers only upon 
such as transgress; while such as escape go up month 
by month, and week by week (or, as I understand it, 
continuously), to worship the Lord at Jerusalem. 
This, as I see it, implies a personal reign of the Lord 
Jesus Christ here on earth, in a glorified condition, of 
course. And during that reign his servants who have 
lived in the past are resurrected, glorified, and reign 
with him. " I am going away. And if I go away, I 
will come again, and receive you to myself; that where 
I am, there you may be also." So they reign with their 
glorified Lord during that millennial period, be it what 
it may or where it will. 



EEVELATION OF JESUS CHKIST. 



103 



The Lord told his twelve apostles : You are they 
who have followed me through my temptations, and I 
appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father has appointed 
unto me; that you may eat and drink at my table in 
my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve 
tribes of Israel " (Luke xxii. 28-30). I know this pas- 
sage, and its parallel in Matthew xix. 28, are spiritual- 
ized by some to mean that the apostles should sit upon 
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel wLila 
they were preaching the gospel; but this is nonsense. 
The apostles never acted as judges of the twelve tribes 
while they were preaching the gospel, nor did they in 
any way assume to be such ; nor were they seated upon 
twelve thrones, or any thrones whatever, nor anything 
analogous to the throne upon which he was seated at the 
right hand of his Father — a throne of glory. ISTor can 
we conceive for a moment that the stripes, bonds, afflic- 
tions, sorrows, persecutions and deaths to which they 
were subjected, while in the ministry, filled the meas- 
ure of the promise, "As his Father had appointed unto 
him " ; nor at all adequate to the regeneration to which 
he referred. 

The query will here arise in the mind of the reader, 
If the wicked are all destroyed, and the servants of the 
Lord are changed, and enter into glory, and are as the 
angels of God in heaven, and, as the Lord says, neither 
marry nor are given in marriage — where are the inhab- 
itants of the world to come from that are to sow and 
reap, plant and eat, build and inhabit, as quoted from 
Isaiah? and where are the nations to come from that 
are to learn war no more, and that Satan is not allowed 



104 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



to deceive for the thousand years ? These are pertinent 
questions, and are such as will arise in the minds of 
many. 

In answering this question, I will ask another: 
What becomes of the children of the righteous who do 
not belong to either of the above classes — neither wicked, 
nor yet so righteous as to fulfil the requirements of the 
gospel ? If the theory were correct that when the Lord 
comes all earthly existence ends, then we would sup- 
pose that the children of righteous parents would be 
changed and glorified when their parents were. This 
would be plausible, and doubtless correct, did human ex- 
istence end at that time. But, on the supposition that 
human existence does not end then, but takes on a new 
lease of life more sublime and glorious than that of the 
past, what more fitting in that case than that God should 
select the children of the righteous to repeople the earth, 
where the Lord himself is to rule and reign in person, 
and all nations serve and obey him? Daniel says: 
u The kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under 
the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the 
saints of the Most High." And Isaiah says : " They 
are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their off- 
spring with them" (Isa. lxv. 23). And Paul says: 
" Children, obey your parents in the Lord, which is 
the first commandment with a promise, that your days 
may he long in the land which the Lord your God gives 
you." Surely the righteous themselves could have no 
objection to their children having a part in such a heav- 
enly inheritance. Let us believe, also, that there are 
some who have given a cup of water to some of the 



EEVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



105 



Lord's people, because they were the Lord's people, who, 
as the Lord said, " shall in nowise lose their reward," 
and who, though not having rendered perfect obedience 
to the gospel, so as to have part with those in the first 
resurrection, may nevertheless be allowed a worldly 
inheritance along with the children of the righteous. 

But, whether these reflections are exactly correct or 
not, there is one thing quite certain; that is, that na- 
tions continue to inhabit the earth during that mil- 
lennial period, else there would be no need of shutting 
up Satan during this period to prevent him from deceiv- 
ing the nations, if there were no nations to be deceived. 
!Not only this, but we learn that after this long period 
of restraint he is again turned loose " and deceives the 
nations which are in the four corners of the earth," 
which would be impossible if there were no nations 
on the earth to be deceived. (See Rev. xx. 7, 8.) And 
as the wicked are destroyed off the earth at its begin- 
ning, we must conclude that Daniel's statement is cor- 
rect, " That the kingdom, and dominion, and the great- 
ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
given to the people of the saints of the Most High." 

Surely the coming of the Lord draws nigh, and 
the gathering of the literal descendants of Abraham 
back into their own land, as I understand it from Eze- 
kiel xxxvii., xxxix. and xlviii., is closely associated in 
time with the Lord's return ; but why should Israel be 
gathered back and re-established in their inheritance, 
if the return of the Lord ends all, and they are imme- 
diately to be swept away out of their existence and 
inheritance ? 



106 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



Some sneer at the idea of literal Israel being gath- 
ered back and being established in their ancient home, 
claiming it is spiritual Israel to whom this promise was 
made. I would like to ask these spiritual interpreters 
what purpose God could have in gathering a thousand 
millions of his people into the land of Palestine, and 
dividing it up among them as an inheritance. If they 
were spiritual and glorified beings, they would not need 
or have any use for a land inheritance : but if they were 
still in the flesh, and had to depend on the soil for an 
existence, then the land would not bear them. In fact, 
there is some difficulty in disposing of the few millions 
of Jews now on earth, so they could derive sustenance 
therefrom in case they were to return. 

So, look at it every way we can, I conclude that the 
earth will take on new life, and, as it were, a new exist- 
ence, when the Lord comes; and that this glorious pe- 
riod will last at least one thousand years, and will so far 
exceed the past history of the world in peace and right- 
eousness that the former will " not be remembered or 
come into mind " ; in short, will be " A new heaven 

AND A NEW EARTH." 

One more thing remains of this eleventh chapter of 
Revelation. John says he saw " the temple of God 
opened in heaven, and therein the ark of the covenant ; 
followed by lightning, voices, thunders, and an earth- 
quake and great hail" (Rev. xi. 19). John does not 
tell us what these voices uttered, nor what the light- 
ning, thunders, earthquake or hail meant. But the fact 
that John here sees the ark of the covenant in the tem- 
ple of God suggests that this part of the vision is con- 



.REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



107 



nected with the fortunes of the Jews — the literal seed 
of Abraham through Isaac — as the ark and the temple 
were always associated with this people in their past 
history. The second coming of our Lord must close 
what the Lord referred to when he said " Jerusalem 
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of 
the Gentiles is filled up/' and then, perhaps, the Jews 
will be returned to the favor of God. In fact, does not 
the Saviour's language above imply their return to Jeru- 
salem and to the favor of God, " when the fulness of 
the Gentiles is come in"? (See Luke xxi. 24.) And 
does not Paul indicate the same thing in Romans 
xi. 25, when he says that " Israel is hardened in part 
till the fulness of the Gentiles has come in ." ? And 
there can be no question but that this hardening con- 
tinues down to the second coming of the Lord, for Paul 
immediately adds that " a deliverer shall come out of 
Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob ; for this 
is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their 
sins." 

This quotation Paul takes from Isaiah lix. 20, 21, 
,and this fact settles the matter that Isaiah is here speak- 
ing about the second appearance of our Lord, and this 
enables us to determine some further as to what is to 
happen to Israel when that time comes. How, then, is 
this ungodliness to be turned away by the Deliverer 
when he comes ? Isaiah answers : " This is my cove- 
nant with them, says Jehovah; My spirit that is upon 
you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, 
shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth 
of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your descendants' 



108 



THE "WONDERS OF THE 



seed, says the Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever " 
(Isa. lix. 21). It is evident, then, that the reforma- 
tion of the Jews when the fulness of the Gentiles has 
come in, is to be brought about by the seed of Jacob 
hearkening unto the words of Christ that God has put 
in his mouth : this is the way then that all Israel is to 
be saved. Then in truth will be said to them: 

" Arise and shine ; for your light has come, and the 
glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Darkness has 
covered the earth, and gross darkness the people: but 
the glory of the Lord shall arise upon you. And the 
Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the 
brightness of your exaltation. Lift up your eyes about 
you, and see : all that gather themselves unto you : your 
sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be 
nursed at your side. Then shall you see, and flow to- 
gether, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; be- 
cause the abundance of the seas shall be turned unto 
you, and the strength of the Gentiles shall come to you. 
The multitude of camels and dromedaries of Midian, 
Ephah and of Sheba shall come to you, bringing gold 
and incense, showing forth the praise of the Lord. . . . 
Surely the isles shall wait upon me, and the ships of 
Tarshish, to bring your sons from afar, and their silver 
and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord 
your God, and to the Lloly One of Israel, because he has 
glorified you. The sons of strangers shall build you 
walls, and their kings shall minister unto you : because 
in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor I have had 
mercy upon you. Therefore your gates shall be open 
continually; they shall not be shut by night; that men 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



109 



may bring unto you the strength of the Gentiles and 
their kings. For the nation and kingdom that will not 
serve you shall perish; yea, shall be utterly wasted. 
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto you ... to beau- 
tify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the 
place of my feet glorious. The sons of them who 
afflicted you shall humble themselves before you; and 
they who afflicted you shall bow down to the soles of 
your feet ; and they shall call you, The city of the Lord, 
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you 
have been forsaken and hated, so that no man went 
through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a 
joy of many generations. You shall suck the milk of 
the Gentiles, and the breast of kings: and you shall 
know that the Lord is your Saviour and your Bedeemer, 
the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring you 
gold, and for iron I will bring you silver, and for wood 
brass, and for stones iron ; I will also make your officers 
officers of peace, and your exactors righteous. Violence 
shall no more be heard of in your land, nor wasting and 
destruction within your borders; but you shall call your 
walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. Even the sun 
shall not be your light by day ; nor the moon by night : 
but the Lord shall be unto you an everlasting light, and 
your God your glory. Your sun shall not go down; 
nor your moon withdraw its shining : for the Lord shall 
be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourn- 
ing shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous, 
and they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of 
my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be 
glorified. A little one shall, become a thousand, and 



110 REVELATION OE JESUS CHRIST. 

a small one a strong nation ; and the Lord will hasten 
it in due time " (Isa. lx. 1-22). 

My readers will excuse me for this long quotation; 
because it is all to happen to the literal seed of Abraham 
when the Lord comes, and I thought my readers ought 
to know, and would like to know, what God has in store 
for them, and that he is able and willing to bless us with 
similar blessings if we are faithful to his precious word. 
There are here and there some figures of speech in 
this quotation, but the meaning thereof can be easily 
gathered, and the things predicted will be found to be 
literally true in God's own good time. 

Here, according to the type, we enter the sabbath 
state of the world, of which more hereafter. Here 
John pauses and goes back to the beginning of Chris- 
tianity, for the purpose of showing up the great apos- 
tasy of the church, after which he will again, in the 
nineteenth chapter, bring us back to the second advent 
of our Lord, and, in the beginning of the twentieth 
chapter, to the glories of the millennial period, partially 
described by Isaiah in the above quotation, and again 
irr chapter lxv. 17-23 and onward. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



THE WOMAN. CLOTHED WITH THE SUN— THE DRAGON. 
Revelation xii. 

Here we enter upon a new field, new symbols and 
a different subject. John, under the divine arrange- 
ment, having brought us twice to the second coming 
of the Lord and the overthrow of the wicked, now 
pauses to give us the special judgment of the apostasy. 
To do this intelligently he must of necessity give us a 
synopsis of its history as a reason why God gives it the 
full cup of his indignation. This will occupy all the 
space between the beginning of the twelfth chapter and 
the close of the nineteenth, where John again brings 
us up to the second coming of the Son of God. Paul, 
you know, in giving us a short concept of this monster 
of iniquity, said the leaven was already at work, and its 
rise was dependent upon a falling away from Christ. 
But he stated, further, that there was a hindering cause 
which would prevent its complete development until this 
hindering cause was taken out of the way. (II. Thess. 
ii. 1-12.) 

To reveal the history of this monster of iniquity, 
it would be necessary to go back to its beginning, to the 
time when the leaven began to work. This we will 
find is the fact, and, as it involves a war between the 
hosts of Satan on one side, and the people of God on 
the other, we may expect reference to be made fre- 
quently to that part of the conflict which exhibits them 

m 



112 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



and their actions in the contest ; with God's ability to 
reward his people, and the fact that he does and will 
reward them. 

"A great sign was seen in heaven ; a woman arrayed 
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon 
her head a crown of twelve stars : she being with child 
cried out, being in pain, and in travail to deliver. And 
there was another sign in heaven ; and behold a huge red 
dragon, that had seven heads and ten horns, and upon 
his heads seven diadems. And his tail drew the third 
part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth : 
and the dragon stood before the woman which was about 
to be delivered, that he might devour her child when 
it was born. And she brought forth a son, who was to 
rule all nations with a rod of iron : and her child was 
caught up to God, and his throne. And the woman fled 
into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of 
God, that they should feed her there a thousand two 
hundred sixty days' 7 (Eev. xii. 1-6). 

We have here another peculiarity of John's symbol- 
ism. In these six verses we have a miniature statement 
of her condition for 1,260 days (or years, as I think 
it is correctly interpreted). After this John gives us a 
more minute account of her contest with the dragon 
during the same period of time. I will assume here, 
without . pausing to prove it, that this woman sym- 
bolizes the Church of Christ; that the period of 
its embryonic condition, beginning with the min- 
istry of John the Baptist to the resurrection of 
Christ, is the period of labor and pain ; then, when this 
child was born from the grave, it ascended up to God 



EEVELATIOtf OF JESUS CHRIST. 



113 



and his throne. Supposing I have guessed the proper 
import of this symbolical woman, then the twelve stars 
in her crown are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 
" Clothed with the sun " ; i. e., with the gospel light of 
revelation. " The moon under her feet " will answer 
to the Jewish church or dispensation. Being thus 
arrayed, and her son caught up to God's throne, the 
woman (or church) is left to fight her battles with the 
dragon. When this contest comes on, the woman (or 
church) flees into her wilderness home prepared of God, 
where she is to be nourished 1,260 years. I will in- 
quire into this wilderness condition farther on. 

" There was war in heaven, Michael and his angels 
going forth to war with the dragon and his angels ; and 
the dragon and his angels prevailed not, neither was 
their place found any more in heaven. And the drag- 
on was cast down, the old serpent who is called the 
Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world: he 
was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast 
down with him. And I heard a great voice from 
heaven, Now is come the salvation and the power and 
kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Anointed : 
because the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who 
accused them before our God day and night. And they 
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by their 
word and testimony ; and they loved not their lives more 
than their death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and 
you who dwell in them. But woe to the earth and the 
sea ! because the devil is come down to you, having great 
wrath, because he knows he has but a short time " (Kev. 
xii. 7-12). 



114 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



liiis contest here described, between tbe children of 
God on one side and the powers of darkness on the 
other, begins with the conflict between Christianity and 
the infidel and sinful world, and rages from A. D. 30 
down to the time when the children of God overcame 
these powers by the word of God and their testimony. 
But in this conflict the servants of God fight valiantly, 
not regarding their lives, which they surrendered in 
death when it becomes necessary. This dragon, who 
is generally called the " Devil and Satan," must be 
taken as all the host of Satan. As Paul expresses 
it : " Put on the whole armor of God, that you 
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil: 
for we wrestle not against flesh and blood only, but 
against principalities, against powers, against the ru- 
lers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
wickedness in high places " (Eph. vi. 11, 12). 

It is very suggestive, too, that the principal part of 
this conflict is carried on in heaven, that is, within the 
church, but the time comes that this deadly strife is cast 
out of the church, and then there is great rejoicing 
among the people of God. But there are portions of the 
earth and the sea of humanity where the devil has his 
own way, indicated by the woe pronounced against " the 
earth and the sea." Even as it is now, the conflict has 
ceased to rage among the people of God ; but outside of 
them the devil has pretty much his own way. John's 
very broad definition that the dragon is " the old ser- 
pent, which is the Devil and Satan, that deceives the 
whole world" is very extensive and reaches into all the 
earth ; but his main power is sometimes localized, where, 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 115 

for the time being, lie seems to have a center of opera- 
tions ; like the Lord localized him in the church at Per- 
gamos — "even where Satan's seat is" (Rev. ii. 13). 
And here (Rev. xii. 7-10) "dragon" evidently means 
pagan Rome, as we shall see farther on. When the 
dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he 
persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child. 
But there were given her the two wings of the great 
place, where she is nourished for a time, times and a 
place, where she is nourished for a time, times and a 
half a time. 

It would seem, too, in this conflict that the dragon 
is successful to the extent of one-third of professed 
Christianity, indicated by his being able to draw away 
from their mooring one-third of the stars of heaven and 
cast them to the earth. It is a well-attested fact in the 
history of the church that very many did fall away from 
the faith. That there was also war in the church is a 
well-attested fact, shown by the records of the Coun- 
cils of Nice, of Ephesus and of Chalcedon, and by the 
conflict between the Church of Rome and the Greek 
Church, and other feuds that troubled the church for a 
thousand years, or more. 

" There were given the woman the two wings of the 
great eagle/' that she might fly into her place in the wil- 
derness (or desert) — " a 'place prepared of God " (verse 
6). These "two wings of the eagle" means, as I see 
it, the assistance of the two divisions of the Roman Em- 
pire, whose national symbol was that of a spread eagle. 
It would further seem from this that it was the will of 
God that the civil authorities should take the church 



116 



THE WOtfDERS OF THE 



under their protection for 1,260 years; which would 
have been right, in view of the time then present, had 
these civil powers stopped at protection ; but when these 
rulers presumed to dictate their faith to the church, they 
abused their power, as we shall presently see they did. 

" Where she is nourished for a time, times and a half 
a time [or 1,260 years] from the face of the serpent " 
(verse 14). This, I suppose, means the restraint of 
paganism by the civil powers. 

" The serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman 
water as a river, that the woman might be carried away 
by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and 
opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river which the 
serpent cast after her." This, I suppose, was verified 
when the northern hordes of pagans invaded the domin- 
ion of the church. Like a river they poured down upon 
her, apparently threatening the annihilation of the 
church. But lo, and behold, their leaders became con- 
verts to Christianity, and their hordes of mercenary 
heathens, in imitation of their commanders, became 
nominally Christians. It is stated by Gibbon that when 
Clovis, the Gothic general, was baptized at Rheims, three 
thousand of his sturdy warriors followed suit. (Gibbon, 
Vol. III., pp. 574-5.) In fact, the universal history 
of the times is that the northern hordes of barbarians 
who overran the Roman Empire in the fifth, sixth and 
seventh centuries invariably abandoned idolatry and be- 
came nominally Christian. Thus the earth opened 
her mouth, and swallowed up this flood of waters which 
the serpent cast out of his mouth to destroy the 
church. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



117 



" The dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and 
went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who 
keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony 
of Jesus " (Rev. xii. 17). This doubtless has reference 
to later persecutions, such as that inaugurated by the 
Inquisition at the close of the fifteenth century. 

This closes one phase of the church in symbol. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



OTHER SYMBOLICAL BEASTS. 
Revelation xiil 

" I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast 
coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven 
heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads 
names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw wad 
like a leopard, with feet like a bear and a mouth like a 
lion ; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, 
and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it 
had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was 
healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast. 
And they worshiped the dragon because he gave his au- 
thority to the beast : and they worshiped the beast, say- 
ing, Who is like the beast ? Who is able to make war 
with him ? And there was given to him a mouth speak- 
ing great things and blasphemies ; and power was given 
him to continue forty-two months. And he opened his 
mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his 
name, and his tabernacle, and them who dwell in heaven. 
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, 
and to overcome them : and there was given him author- 
ity over every tribe, people, tongue and nation. And 
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose 
names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life 
slain from the foundation of the world. . . . He that 
leads into captivity shall go into captivity ; he that kills 
with the sword must be killed with the sword. In this 

U3 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



119 



is manifest the faith and patience of the saints 99 (Rev. 
xiii. 1-10). 

Here we have a new symbol, and, as John intimates, 
a successor to the dragon, with enlarged powers, having 
seven heads and ten horns. But this beast differs from 
the other in that the heads of the dragon were crowned, 
but this has his horns crowned. And he has the same 
number of heads and horns as the scarlet-colored beast of 
chapter xvii., and without doubt is the same animal 
shown up under a different aspect. I wish also to state 
that the seven heads of this beast, and of chapter xvii. 
3 and of chapter xii. 3, are evidently the same heads, 
which disproves the theory that the seven hills whereon 
the city of Eome stands are the seven heads, as usually 
interpreted by expositors of chapter xvii. 3; as one of 
these heads of chapter xiii. was surrounded by a sword 
(verse 14) and near unto death, but revived again, 
which could not be said of one of these hills. Then, 
again, all these seven heads are crowned in chapter xii. 
3, which could not be said of hills. 

Then, again, it could not mean the seven different 
forms of government under which the empire of Kome 
was governed; because these seven different forms of 
government were not all crowned; at least, three of 
them were not. And the declaration that one of these 
heads was wounded by a sword nigh unto death, but 
lived again, which would indicate that all were alive, 
would not tally with this theory, for every one of these 
seven forms of government perished by the sword and 
did not live again. These seven heads must therefore 
mean something else. 



120 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



Again, there is a theory advanced in some quarters 
that this beast of chapter xiii. is the Mahomedan power, 
but this can not be, because Daniel (vii. 7, 8, 11, 20-22, 
24-26) evidently identifies this little horn as an off- 
spring of the Roman Empire, and as coming into exist- 
ence after the ten horns, which is undoubtedly the same 
power as the beast of Revelation xiii. 1-10. And it 
can not be, for the further reason that Paul (II. Thess. 
ii. 3), in speaking of the same power, says " it sits in 
the temple of God/' which temple of God is without 
doubt the Church of God, or Christ. Hence we must 
locate its rise and the beginning of its existence in the 
Roman Empire. 

Next we must locate this beast in the Church of 
Christ. And we must locate its rise near the close of 
imperial Rome, not Constantinople. And the Roman 
Empire, out of which it rises, must be composed of ten 
crowned and subordinate kingdoms, and must be com- 
posed of seven different nationalities, for so must I in- 
terpret the seven heads. It must also occupy the 
same throne as the dragon of chapter xii., because this 
dragon gives him his authority, his power and his 
throne. And we are quite sure that the dragon of chap- 
ter xii., that stood before the woman to devour her 
child when it was born, was pagan, imperial Rome. 
Arabia, where Mahomedanism arose, was never in the 
dominion of Rome, nor did it stop by uprooting three of 
the ten subordinate kingdoms of the Roman Empire, for 
it subdued at least six, including Spain. Neither was 
the Saracen Empire the greatest factor to war with and 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



121 



overcome the saints; we have a more fearful power 
than this. 

Daniel, Paul and John all agree that he boasts 
great things, and that these things are blasphemous 
(or derogatory) to the character of God, speaking 
wrongfully of God, of his name and his church, and of 
them who dwell in heaven. John also says he had power 
to continue forty-two months, which, at thirty days per 
month, makes 1,260 days, which is supposed to repre- 
sent that many years. Daniel says of the same power 
that " we should think to change times and laws, and 
they should be given into his hand for a time, times 
and a dividing of time," or three and one-half years, 
which, as the years were counted in those times, at 360 
days, will make the same number of days and years, or 
1,260. Daniel says: "He made war with the saints, 
and prevailed against them " (Dan. vii. 21). John 
says : " It was given unto him to make war with the 
saints, and overcome them " (Kev. xiii. 7), using nearly 
exactly the same prediction. Paul does not say (in II. 
Thess. ii.) that he was to make war with the saints, but 
he does say that he opposed God and exalts himself 
above God, which implies that he should interfere with 
God's people. John says : " I saw the woman drunk 
with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the 
martyrs of Jesus" (Rev. xvii. 6). Again: These ten 
kingdoms "give their power and strength unto the beast : 
and these shall war against the saints " (verse 14). 
Hence Daniel (vii.) and Paul (II. Thess. ii.) and John 
(Rev. xiii. and xvii.) all refer to the same apostate 
power. 



122 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



Again, Paul says that the rise of this sinful power 
was dependent upon a falling away first (II. Thess. ii. 
3). This shows with sufficient clearness that a corrupt 
condition must first prevail before this sinful power 
could develop, and that he (or it) should, when devel- 
oped, be able to deceive them who would not receive the 
truth to believe it and love it (verses 10-12). This 
shows a fearful condition of things in the church; and 
it shows more: that this power, being enthroned in the 
church, is able to deceive, and does deceive, them who 
are nominally in the church. It shows another thing: 
that is, that it will exist in some form till the Lord 
comes, because the Lord Jesus is to slay with the breath 
of his mouth and destroy with his manifest coming 
(verse 8). 

Daniel uses nearly the same language in regard to 
the destruction of this wicked power, whatever it may 
be. He says : " The judgment shall sit, and they shall 
take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto 
the end " (Dan. vii. 26). And that it shall continue 
"till the Ancient of Days comes, and the judgment is 
given to the saints " (verse 22). 

John, in speaking about the destruction of this same 
beast under the name of Babylon, says : " Babylon the 
great is fallen, because she made all nations drink of 
the wine of her wrath. ... If any man worship the 
beast and his image, and receive his mark in the fore- 
head, or in his hand, he shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is prepared without mixture in the 
cup of his anger ; and he shall be tormented with fi.ro 
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHEIST. 



123 



the presence of the Lamb : and the smoke of their tor- 
ment goes up for ever and ever : and they have no rest 
day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and 
who receive the mark of his name" (Rev. xiv. 8-11). 
Babylon the great here (Eev. xiv. 8) must be taken 
as Babylon the great of Revelation xviii., whose funeral 
the angel there more elaborately preaches. 

And this leads on to the thought that chapter xvii. 
contains a somewhat fuller view and description of these 
two beasts of chapter xiii., but under a different symbol- 
ical phase. Taking this to be so, I shall consider Dan- 
iel vii. 8, 11, 20-22, 24-26; II. Thessalonians ii. 3-12, 
and Revelation xiii., xiv. 8-12, xvii., xviii. and some 
portions of xix., as all referring to the same apostate 
power — its rise, locality, work, duration and destruc- 
tion. I will therefore consider them together, being 
confident that when we carefully consider all the sym- 
bolical dicta and the unsymbolical affirmations in regard 
thereto, we will be able to understand tolerably well 
to what all these prophetic declarations refer. I will 
here state, too, that I do not think that the popes of 
Rome fill the full measure of the first beast of Revela- 
tion xiii. 1-9, but that it is largely represented by a law- 
less condition of things that prevailed in the church, 
manifested sometimes by the acts of pretended Chris- 
tian emperors, sometimes by councils, at other times 
by leading bishops, and eventually by the popes of Rome 
and the secondary powers who supported them. 

Paul intimates that there was some restraining 
power that hindered its development, and would restrain 
it till it was taken out of the way, after which it would 



124 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



be revealed ; and that its development was also depend- 
ent upon an apostasy (II. Thess. ii. 3). Now, it must 
be manifest to the thoughtful and considerate reader that 
from the time Paul wrote this (about A. D. 54) to 
the time of Constantine (A. D. 320) there was almost a 
continued persecution of Christians by the heathen 
emperors, hence no inducement for any one to hypocrit- 
ically force himself into the church in the face of death. 
But after the days of Constantine, when the emperors 
began to protect the Christians, and to appropriate rev- 
enues from the public treasury to support the leading 
bishops and their charges, large numbers, from mer- 
cenary motives, began to flock into the church. Also 
the foolish order of monastics, that sprang up about the 
same time, contributed to overload the church with an 
ignorant and superstitious mass of human beings who 
did not — and, owing to their condition, could not — 
appreciate the great salvation which the religion of 
Christ offered them. It was then out of this condition 
of things, and the ignorance of the times then present, 
that the apostasy from the faith sprang up and devel- 
oped gradually, but rapidly, into the man of sin de- 
scribed by Paul, which he declares must come before the 
Lord would come again. 

We may, then, reasonably inquire about the time 
when it should, or did, develop into the man of sin in the 
church of God. It is generally conceded that the em- 
peror Constantine took the hindering cause out of the 
way, but after it was removed, it would necessarily take 
some time to fully develop it. While Constantine pro- 
tected the Christian religion, and thought favorably of 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



125 



it, lie nevertheless was not a Christian till the close of 
his life, if, indeed, he was then. Julian the apostate 
was the next emperor after Constantine, and for awhile 
reversed things. Some four or five emperors inter- 
vened between Julian and Theodosius, but nothing of 
great importance occurred in the history of the church 
till in the reign of the latter, when stirring events trans- 
pired. 

Early in the reign of Theodosius, the Synod of Con- 
stantinople ground cut the Trinitarian doctrine of three 
Gods in one God. This council sat about A. D. 381 
or 382, and was composed of one hundred and fifty- 
bishops. And to this emperor is attached the disgrace 
of being the first Christian emperor who authorized the 
shedding of the blood of his Christian subjects who dif- 
fered with him in their religious faith. Under his 
reign seven persons were tried, tortured and condemned 
by the imperial consistory at Treves. In the short 
space of fifteen years he issued at least fifteen severe 
edicts against imaginary heretics, more especially 
against those who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. 
The punishment of death was ordered to be inflicted on 
any one who dared to celebrate Easter on any improper 
day. (See Gibbon, Vol. III., pp. 92, 93.) Theo- 
dosius also abolished idolatry, which at the time wa9 
practiced by a majority of the land. They went further, 
and abolished the idol temples and all heathen orders of 
diviners, haruspices, vestal virgins, heathen priests, etc. 
It is easy to see how, amidst the ignorance and super- 
stition of the times, these heathen orders were intro- 
duced into the church — hence about this time we have 



1126 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



popes, cardinals, bishops, monks, friars, nuns and vir- 
gins. 

Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was contemporary with 
Emperor Theodosius, and is supposed to have largely 
influenced him in all his religious actions. On one 
occasion this bishop said that the palaces of the earth 
might indeed belong to Caesar, but the churches were 
the houses of God, and within the limits of his diocese 
he himself, as the lawful successor of the apostles, was 
the only minister of God. This shows that the bishops 
had not at that time assumed civil jurisdiction. This 
Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, was the first bishop who 
introduced the worship of dead men's bones. " The 
skeletons of two men, purporting to be martyrs of three 
hundred years before, were dug up from under the 
pavement of the church at Milan. These holy relics 
were presented in solemn pomp to the veneration of the 
people. The blood, bones and garments of these skele- 
tons, it was claimed, had a miraculous healing power. 
This supernatural power, it was also claimed, was trans- 
mitted to distant objects, and even Ambrose himself 
pretended to believe in their miraculous power " 
(p. 101). 

Gibbon justly remarks that "from thence on the long 
reign of the worship of saints and relics corrupted the 
simplicity of the Christian model, and that symptoms 
of the decay of Christianity may be traced from the 
first generation who adopted the innovation. The ex- 
perience of the fact that the relics of saints were more 
valuable than gold or precious stones stimulated the 
clergy to multiply these relic treasures of the church, 



REVELATION OF JESTJS CHRIST. 



127 



without much regard to truth or probity. They in- 
vented names for skeletons of saints and martyrs who 
had never been heard of before. Tours might not be 
the only diocese in which the bones of a criminal were 
adored for those of a saint. A superstition which 
tended to increase the temptation to fraud and credulity 
insensibly extinguished the light of reason in the Chris- 
tian world " (p. 157). 

About A. D. 430 to 433 there was a terrible perse- 
cution of the Donatist Christians in Africa, by the Cath- 
olics of Italy. Honorius, emperor of the West, stripped 
the churches of Africa of three hundred of their leading 
bishops, and many thousands of the inferior clergy, 
whom he banished to the islands, and confiscated all 
their church property, and deprived the private mem- 
bers of their citizenship and the exercise of religious 
worship, under heavy fines; and we are told these se- ! 
verities were recommended and approved by St. Au- 
gustine. Under this severe pressure many fell in line 
with the Catholics, while a very large per cent, of the 
Christian Donatists preferred and received martyrdom 
at the hands of the Catholic brethren. In view of this 
dire wickedness, is it any wonder that God permitted 
Genseric, a Christian by profession, but an Arian in 
doctrine, to intercept and end the Catholic cruelty 
by wresting the whole of Northern Africa from the 
Catholic power? Genseric even pushed his way into, 
the imperial city of Rome, which he held for fourteen! 
days, and then sacked it. And, finally, a great plague 
ended the fanatical struggle. (See Gibbon, Vol. III.,; 
pp. 463 to 504.) - , 



128 



THE WOEDERS OF THE 



Thus we can easily see that the state of the Chris- 
tian religion and the ignorance of the times led to the 
development of Paul's man of sin. We see, too, that the 
making of war, by the Christian powers, with the 
saints and the overcoming of them was begun as 
early as A. D. 395, by Theodosius, the emperor 
of the East, at Constantinople, and by Honorius, 
the emperor of the West, early in the fifth cen- 
tury. Add to this Paul's statement that " the Spirit 
expressly says that in later times some shall fall away 
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and the 
teaching of demons; through hypocrisy and lying, be 
branded in their conscience as with a hot iron; for- 
bidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from 
food which God created to be received with thanksgiv- 
ing of them who believe and know the truth" (I. Tim. 
iv. 1-3). This was fully verified in the fad started by 
St. Anthony, an illiterate youth of Thebes in Egypt, 
who tore loose from his family and native home, made 
the tombs and deserted tower his home for awhile, and 
then advanced three days' journey eastward from the 
Nile. Here he settled on Mount Colzin, near the Red 
Sea, where an ancient monastery still preserves his 
name and memory. The curious devotion of the Chris- 
tians of those times followed him into the desert. The 
prolific colonies of the monks multiplied with rapid in- 
crease on the sands of Libya, and in the cities of the 
JSTile. South of Alexandria, the mountain and adjacent 
desert of ISTitra were soon peopled by five thousand 
monks. The traveler may still investigate the ruins of 
fifty monasteries, which were planted in that barren 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



129 



soil by the disciples of Anthony. A bishop who 
preached in twelve churches could compute ten thousand 
females and twenty thousand males of the monastic 
profession. (Gibbon, Yol. III., pp. 522-23.) 

This was not only true of Egypt, but all Palestine 
and Syria became a sacred soil to propagate this foolish 
custom. It did not stop here, however, but spread like 
fire into Asia Minor, into Italy, into all North Africa, 
Spain, Gaul and Germany, and even into Ireland. Even 
to-day its withering touch is felt and its rites practised 
in our own United States. At first this fad was purely 
a volunteer matter ; no one was forced into it ; but so 
popular was this ascetic life that at one time it was said 
that in Egypt and Syria one-half of the population fell 
victims to its contamination. It was, however, soon 
controlled by fixed laws, and it presently became the 
custom to go to these monasteries for the bishops of im- 
portant dioceses ; as it was thought no one was fit to fill 
these important pastorates unless he had first passed 
through the purifying fires of an ascetic life. An im- 
portant law was soon adopted requiring these zealots to 
abstain from wine end flesh, and every variety of food 
that was thought to gratify the appetite, and from 
clothing that would please the eye; it was thought the 
only way to heaven was to tread the thorny path of 
self-denial. And the greater the bodily afflictions, so 
much surer were the realms of glory. (See Gibbon, Yol. 
1IL, pp. 525-60.) 

This fad began early in the fourth century, and had 
assumed its greatest magnitude early in the fifth cen- 
tury ; so that, in reality, we have the church rent asun- 



CL30 THE WONPEES OF THE 

der by various religious factions in the reign of Theo- 
dosius, near the beginning of the fifth century. Like- 
wise we have pretended Christian emperors spilling the 
blood of their fellow-Christians, and the withering in- 
fluence of monasticism in full blast. Pretended Chris- 
tian councils, loaded with the leading bishops of the 
times, vainly discussed the status of the Godhead; 
adopted the Trinitarian doctrine, and enforced it by the 
sword, and endorsed the worship of the relics of dead 
saints. Surely, no greater evidence of an apostate con- 
dition in the church could be found. 

If, then, we locate the beginning of this beast of 
Revelation xiii. 1-9 at about A. D. 375, 1,260 years more 
will bring us down into the seventeenth century, this side 
of the bloody reign of Queen Mary (1556) and St. Bar- 
tholomew's massacre (1572), and beyond the time when 
our common English version was made, and to the time 
when Catholic persecution ceased by law. Daniel said : 
"He should think to change times and laws, and they 
should be given into his hands till a time, times and a 
dividing of time," or 1,260 years. And John said he 
should prevail against the saints for forty-two months, 
or 1,260 years. I conclude, then, that this first beast 
is developed in the so-called Christian civil powers, com- 
bined with ecclesiastical power, that ruled over the 
Christian world from about 375 to 1625. 

But John says : " I saw another beast coming up 
out of the earth ; and he had two horns like a lamb, and 
he spoke like the dragon. And he exercised all the 
power of the first beast in his sight. And he makes the 
earth and them who dwell therein to worship the first 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 131 1 

beast, whose death-stroke was healed. And he does 
great signs, even to make fire come down out of heaven 
upon the earth in the sight of men, and he deceives 
them who dwell on the earth by reason of the signs it 
was given him to do in the sight of the beast ; saying to 
them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an 
image to the beast, who had the wound by the sword, 
and lived again. And it was given unto him to give life 
to the image of the beast, that it should speak, and cause 
that as many as should not worship the image of the 
beast should be killed. And he causes all, small and 
great, rich and poor, free and bond, that there should be 
given them a mark in their right hand, or in their fore- 
heads : that no man should be allowed to buy or sell, save 
he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the 
number of his name. Here is wisdom. He that hath 
understanding, let him count the number of the beast: 
for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six 
hundred and sixty-six" (Rev. xiii. 11-18). 

The age or duration of the beast with two horns is 
not given here, and it is not certain that his time of en- 
durance is given at all; but I think I can locate this 
fellow. He comes into existence after the first beast, 
and after the first beast receives his death-stroke; 
and this image is evidently the resuscitation of the first 
beast. It is a little singular, too, that this last fellow 
should be so anxious about restoring the worship of the 
first beast. This shows that the first beast and the 
second lived partly cotemporary, though evidently the 
latter begins his life after the death-stroke of the former. 
He differs slightly from the former beast in that he 



&32 THE WONDERS OF THE 

lias but one head, and two horns in it. That is, when 
he comes up he puts on the appearance of a lamb, and 
has two regal powers to support him. These are prob- 
ably the emperors of the Gothic or German Empire and 
the Eastern Roman Empire of Constantinople. He 
also pretends to work miracles, by which he deceives 
men. 

I wish to say here that I think none of the exposi- 
tors whom I have read seem to have the key to this fel- 
low. And I had for awhile a deal of trouble in trying 
to adjust this beast to their theories, and eventually had 
to give it up. Take, for instance, the theory advanced 
in " The Golden Reed," by Elder Wright, that England 
is the second beast. When did England ever make an 
image of Papacy? IsTot when the Church of England 
separated from the Catholic Church, because at that 
time if the Church of England was the image it was 
made by Rome and not by England. !Nor did the 
Church of England ever command or compel any one to 
worship the first beast (the Catholic Church), nor does 
it wear the name of " Six hundred and sixty-six." So 
this will not do. Elder B. W. Johnson, in " Vision of 
the Ages," comes pretty near striking the key, but he is 
so confused upon the subject that one can hardly gather 
the correct thought from him. 

Now, suppose that imperial Rome, after it became 
nominally Christian and ruled both the Church and 
the State while it existed, is the first beast, and that it 
had a death-stroke by a sword ; that is, that by the for- 
tunes of war imperial Rome was seemingly killed, which 
we know is true of imperial Rome, whether that fact 



&EVEEATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



133 



fills the symbol of the vision or not. Gibbon says it 
became extinct in A. D. 479. The question then is, Did 
it live again ? — was this deadly wound healed, and, if 
so, by whom ? The funeral prospect after the deadly 
wound is thus described by Gibbon (Vol. IV., p. 418) : 
" Like Thebes, or Babylon, or Carthage, the name of 
Rome might now have been erased from the earth, if 
the city had not been animated by a vital principle 
which again restored her to [life] honor and dominion." 
A vague tradition was embraced that two J ewish teach- 
ers, a tentmaker and a fisherman, had formerly been 
executed in the Circus of Nero. At the end of five 
hundred years, their genuine or fictitious relics were 
adored as the palladium of Christian Rome. The pil- 
grims of the East and the West resorted to the holy 
threshold ; but the shrines of the apostles were guarded 
by miracles and invisible terrors; so that it was not 
without fear that the pious Catholic approached the 
object of his worship. It was claimed it was fatal to 
touch and dangerous to behold the bodies of the saints ; 
and those who, from the purest motives, presumed to 
disturb the repose of the sanctuary, were affrighted by 
visions, or punished with sudden death. . . . The 
virtue of the apostles resided with living energy in the 
hearts of their successors ; and the chair of St. Peter was 
then filled, under the reign of Maurice, by the first and 
greatest of the name of Gregory," A. D. 590-604. Thus 
Gibbon unconsciously gives us the modus operandi by 
which Rome lives again, thus filling the measure of 
John's prediction that the beast had a death-stroke in 
one of its heads — Rome — and its death-stroke was 



134 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



healed, and the beast lived again. It also meets an- 
other prediction. In describing this same power, Paul 
says of its rise : " Whose coming is like the working 
of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
and with all deceit and unrighteousness 99 (II. Thess. 
ii. 0). 

Gibbon again says of this Koman pontiff : " The 
pontificate of Gregory the Great, which lasted thirteen 
years and a half, is one of the most edifying periods 
in the history of the church. His virtues and his faults 
were a singular mixture of simplicity and cunning, of 
pride and humility, of sense and superstition, happily 
suited to his station and the temper of the times. He 
condemned in his rival, the Patriarch of Constanti- 
nople, the antichristian title of universal bishop, which 
he was too haughty to concede and too feeble to assume 
himself. His jurisdiction was confined to the triple 
character of the Bishop of Bonie, Primate of Italy, and 
Apostle of the West" (Vol. IV, p. 421). At this 
time, then, the Pope of Eome only claimed to be Bishop 
of Borne, Archbishop of Italy, and Apostle of the 
West. He did not then, as now, claim to be Christ's 
vicar for all the world. 

I again quote from Gibbon (pp. 422-3) : " Either 
the credulity or the prudence of Gregory was always 
disposed to confirm the truths of religion by the evi- 
dence of ghosts, miracles and resurrections. . . . The 
celestial honors have been liberally bestowed by the au- 
thority of the popes, but Gregory is the last of their 
order whom they have placed in the calendar of saints. 
Their temporal power insensibly arose from the calam- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



135 



ities of the times." Here we see their civil jurisdiction 
cropping out. Gregory the Great hurled back the im- 
putation that he was the universal pope, as intimated 
by the Bishop of Alexandria in an epistle he wrote him. 
And he denounced as antichrist every bishop who 
would try to exalt himself above his fellow bishops. 
(See Kurtz's "History of the Church/' pp. 273-4.) 
This shows that the animal was not yet fully developed. 

Having now ascertained the lamblike rise of the 
second beast, and his healing of the wounded head of 
the first beast, I will once more draw upon Gibbon for 
evidence of the construction of the image of the first 
beast, reared up by the second beast as an object of 
worship. He says (Vol. V., p. 25) : " Gregory the 
Third, being oppressed by the Lombards, implored the 
aid of Charles Martel, who then governed the French 
monarchy with the humble title of mayor or duke, who, 
by his signal victory over the Saracens, had saved his 
country, and perhaps all Europe, from the yoke of 
Mahometan rule. The ambassadors of the Pope were 
received by Charles with decent reverence, but the great- 
ness of his occupation and the shortness of his life 
prevented his interference. His son Pepin, the heir 
of his power and virtues, assumed the office of champion 
of the Koman Church; and the zeal of the French 
prince seems to have been prompted by the love of glory 
and religion." 

After a fruitless effort to appease his Lombard 
enemy, Stephen, who was then pope, visited Pepin in 
person, who received Stephen as the visible successor 
of the apostle, granted his requests, and was soon on 



136 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



Iiis way with a French army to chastise the Lombard 
king. The Lombards, after a feeble resistance, gave in, 
and swore to restore the possessions and to respect the 
sanctity of the Roman Church. But no sooner was the 
French army withdrawn than the Lombard king forgot 
his promise, and again invested Rome with his arms; 
whereupon Pope Stephen, fearing he might weary his 
transalpine allies by his own personal importunities, 
addressed Pepin a letter in the name of St. Peter him- 
self, wherein the apostle assures his adopted sons — the 
king, clergy and the nobles of France — that, though 
dead in flesh, he is still alive in spirit ; and that they 
now hear, and must obey, the voice of the founder and 
guardian of the Roman Church; that the Virgin, the 
angels, the saints, and the martyrs, and all the host of 
heaven, unanimously urge the request, and will confess 
the obligation; that riches, victory and paradise will 
crown their pious enterprise; and that eternal damna- 
tion will be the penalty of their neglect, if they suffer 
his tomb, his temple and his people to fall into the 
hands of the perfidious Lombards." To this celestial, 
message Pepin responded at once. St. Peter was sat- 
isfied, and Rome was saved; and the wicked Lombard 
was taught a lesson of justice by the scourge of a foreign 
master. Several years later Charlemagne, the son of 
Pepin, effectually blotted out the Lombard kingdom. 

" Under the sacerdotal monarchy of St. Peter, the 
nations began to resume the practice of seeking their 
kings, their laws and the oracles of their fate at the 
shrine of St. Peter." The French were perplexed 
about the form of their government: Childeric, of the 



EEVELATION OF JESUS OHIilST. 137 



line of Clovis, was their reigning, lawful king, but, 
being weak-minded, Pepin, the son of Charles Martel, 
was ruling the affairs of state for him. Being ambi- 
tious, he aspired to the throne ; so he sent ambassadors 
to the Roman pontiff soliciting the coveted prize. The 
interest of Pope Zachary lay with Pepin; so this lordly 
prelate, the successor of the Gregories, decided in 
Pepin's favor. He pronounced that the nation might 
lawfully unite in the same person the title and authority 
of king, and that the unfortunate Childeric should be 
degraded, shaved, and confined in a monastery the re- 
mainder of his days. An answer so agreeable to his 
wishes was accepted as the opinion of a casuist, the 
sentence of a judge, or the oracle of a prophet. The 
Merovingian race disappeared, and Pepin was exalted 
on a buckler by the people who already were accustomed 
to obey his laws and to march under his standard. 
Pepin's coronation was then performed under the di- 
rection of the Pope, by his most faithful servant St. 
Boniface, the apostle of Germany. (Germany and 
Prance were both ruled over at this time by the same 
king.) Afterwards he was crowned a second time by 
Pope Stephen the Third, in the monastery of St. Denys. 
The holy oil was dextrously applied by the successor 
of St. Peter, who assumed the character of a divine am- 
bassador. By this a German chieftain was trans- 
formed into the Lord's anointed, and this custom was 
diffused and practiced in these countries down to a very 
modern date. 

The secretary of Charlemagne affirms that the 
French scepter was transferred to the princes of the 



138 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



Oarlovingian race by the authority of the popes; and 
in their boldest enterprises they insist upon this as the 
source of their temporal jurisdiction. Pepin, having 
received the title of king of France and patrician of 
Rome, the Roman ambassadors presented these patri- 
cians with the keys of the shrine of St. Peter, as a 
pledge of the symbol of sovereignty, with a holy banner 
which it was their right and duty to unfurl in defense 
of the church and city. 

The Exarchate of Ravenna, by which the emperors 
of the East held authority over Italy and Rome, had now, 
under Pepin, been overthrown and its dominion ceded 
to the popes. On complaint of the emperor of the East 
to Pepin, about his making rather free with his do- 
minion and soliciting the return of the provinces of 
Italy, Pepin replied that " no human consideration 
would tempt him to resume the gift which he had con- 
ferred upon the Roman pontiff for the remission of 
his sins and the salvation of his soul." The donation 
was granted in supreme and absolute dominion, and 
the world beheld, for the first time, a Christian bishop 
invested with the prerogatives of a temporal prince. 
This temporal reign lasted from this on for 1,115 years. 
(See Barnes' "General History," p. 332.) The Lombard 
kingdom, the Exarchate of Ravenna and the Duchy of 
Spoleto were now added to the dominion of St. Peter in 
reality, and remained so till 1870. 

Gibbon says : " Fraud is the resource of weakness 
and cunning; and the strong, though ignorant, barbarian 
was often entangled in the net of sacerdotal policy. 
The Vatican and Lateran were an arsenal and manu- 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



139 



Ifactory, which, according to the occasion, have produced 
or concealed various collections of false or suspicious 
acts as they tended to promote the interest of the 
Roman Church. Before the close of the eighth century 
some apostolical scribe — perhaps the notorious Isadore 
— composed the decretals and the donation of Constan- 
tine, which were the two pillars of both the spiritual 
and temporal monarchy of the popes. This memorable 
donation was first introduced to the world by an epistle 
of Adrian I., who exhorts Charlemagne to imitate the 
liberality and revive the name of the great Constantine, 
who resigned to the popes the free and perpetual sov- 
ereignty of Rome, Italy and the provinces of the West. 
. . . By this fiction it was claimed that the popes were 
the successors, not only of St. Peter, but also of Con- 
stantine, by which they were invested with the purple 
and the prerogatives of the Ca3sars. So deep-seated 
were the ignorance and credulity of the times, that the 
most absurd fables were received with reverence, and 
are still enrolled in the canon law. . . . Before the end 
of the fifteenth century the fable was rejected as spuri- 
ous; but a false and obsolete title still sanctifies their 
reign (till within this century), and by the same fortune 
that has attended the decretals, and the sibylline or a- 7 
cles, the edifice still subsists, though its foundation is 
gone" (Vol. V., pp. 23-36). 

The reader will pardon me for taxing his patience 
with these long extracts. I deemed it very important 
to show from history that the popes of Rome did actually 
reconstruct the empire of the Caesars after it was vir- 
tually dead, and that this reconstructed holy Roman Em- 



140 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



pire, after the image was built by the popes by usur- 
pation and fraud and lying wonders, has actually lasted 
for a thousand years. During the greater part of the 
this time (until 1870) the popes of Rome have exer- 
cised ecclesiastical jurisdiction and absolute civil juris- 
diction over Italy, the Exarchate of Ravenna and the 
Duchy of Bologna, and a positive oversight of the re- 
mainder of the holy Roman Empire until the days of 
Luther's Reformation. 

It is stated somewhere by Gibbon that when he wrote 
Volume V. (if I recollect right), the holy Roman Em- 
pire consisted of twelve minor kingdoms, but as he reck- 
oned Russia as one and Turkey in Europe as one, which 
did not properly belong to it, it leaves ten minor king- 
doms of which the new Roman Empire was composed, 
thus making ten horns for the beast of Revelation xvii. 
This is the same number as the first beast of Revelation 
xiii., which was also the number of subordinate king- 
doms of which imperial Rome was composed just prior 
to the Saracen conquest. Thus the image of old im- 
perial Rome is exact in the number of subordinate king- 
doms. 

But we have even better evidence than secular his- 
tory. It is prophetically declared by John (Rev. xvii. 
12) that the ten horns are ten kings (or kingdoms) 
" which you saw on the beast, and that these had not 
then received any kingdom, but were to receive power as 
kings one hour with the beast." These ten kings or 
kingdoms " have one mind, and give their power and 
authority unto the beast" (verse 13). "For God has 
put it into their hearts to do his will, and to come to one 



KEVELATION OF JESUS CHBIST. 



141 



mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the 
words of God should be accomplished " (verse 17). 

I think, then, that both reason and revelation estab- 
lish the identity of this image of the beast. But Eevela- 
tion xvii. 8 gives us another clue to his identity. It is 
here stated that this beast was (did exist), and is not 
(does not exist), and yet is (that is, does exist again). 
In other words, imperial Eome did exist until it was 
overthrown by the barbarians, then was brought to life 
again by the Gregories and their immediate successors, 
in its spiritual and civil form combined- This is an in- 
disputable fact, whether it fill the prophecy of Revela- 
tion xiii. 11-17 or not. 

There is a further identity mentioned in Kevelation 
xiii. 18, in giving the mysterious name of this beast as 
the name of a man — six hundred and sixty-six. It is 
stated by scholars of repute that the numerical value of 
the Greek letters which compose the word Lateinos is 
just 666; thus, L-30, a-1, t-300, e-5, i-10, n-50, o-70, 
s-200, which, added together, makes the number 666. 
This name the Church of Eome wore in history for a 
thousand years to distinguish it from the Greek Church : 
it was called the Latin Church, the last syllable (os) 
being dropped off when transferred into English. It 
is also claimed that the word " Eome," when spelt 
in the Hebrew, gives the number 666. Again, it is 
claimed that the letters which have a numerical 
value in the Latin inscription on the pope's crown, 
meaning, when translated into English, "Vice- 
gerent of the Son of God/' also sum up 666. So 
that it is quite likely that this number 666 was intended 



142 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



to further identify this apostate church. That it was 
susceptible of being ascertained by the readers of the 
book is implied in the statement, " Let him who has un- 
derstanding, count the number." We must remember, 
too, that at the time John saw this vision the only way 
they counted and computed numbers was by using the 
letters of their alphabet, which, by common consent, had 
certain numerical values attached to them. Our com- 
mon figures were invented by the Arabians, and came 
into use long afterwards. 

John says that this second beast " looked like a lamb, 
but spoke like a dragon " (verse 11). His speech here 
refers us back to the dragon of chapter xii., whose char- 
acter is there given as " the Devil and Satan, who de- 
ceives the whole world." This leads us to suppose at 
once that in his teaching he deceives, but in his outward 
appearance resembles an innocent lamb (a Christian). 
This is just the character that Paul gives him. He has 
his seat in the temple of God (in the church) ; he poses 
as a Christian, even as God. (See II. Thess. ii. 4.) 
" Whose working is after the coming of Satan [the 
dragon] with all power and signs and lying wonders, in 
deceit and unrighteousness " (verse 9), or the dragon 
full-fledged in practice. 

" He exercised all the authority of this first beast " 
(verse 12). We understand that " the dragon gave the 
first beast his authority and power 99 (xiii. 2) ; that is, 
the power and authority of imperial and pagan Rome. 
"And he makes the earth and them who dwell therein 
to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed" 
(verse 12), to do reverence to imperial Rome and 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHSIST. 143 

pagan Rome. That is, he requires reverence to the 
shreds and shades of imperial Rome, and begins to prac- 
tice pagan rites and superstition ; begins to worship relics 
and saints, and to teach monasticism — Worship my 
image of imperial Rome. 

" Does great wonders, even makes fire come down 
from heaven in the sight of men, and thereby deceives 
them who dwell upon the earth " (verses 13, 14). This 
doubtless has reference to the teaching of the church, 
which now received her doctrine from Rome, to the e£ 
feet that the virgin Mary, St. Peter, Paul, and all the 
apostles and martyrs of Jesus, would bless them if good 
Catholics, or visit them with wrath, fire and sword if 
they rejected the teaching of Rome. And through the 
force of these things he commands them to make (re- 
store) the image of the first beast — that is, the substance 
of imperial Rome in the ecclesiastical machinery of 
modern Rome — which they did. 

" It was given him to give life to the image of the 
beast, that it should speak, and cause that as many as 
would not worship the image of the beast should be 
killed" (verse 15). This is completely verified in the 
history of the Church of Rome for the next thousand 
or more years after Gregory the Great began the exer- 
cise of civil jurisdiction. To deny the supremacy of 
the pope, or to set at naught his teaching, was visited 
with death upon the transgressor, as bear witness the 
many millions of the martyrs of Jesus who bore 
witness for him at the rack, the stake, the 
gibbet or the block, whether by the express 
command of the pope, as in the case of the 



144 



REVELATION OE JESUS CHRIST. 



Inquisition, or through the civil authorities who did 
his will and acknowledged his rule. 

"And he caused all, small and great, . . . that there 
be given them a mark in their right hand, or in their 
forehead : that no man should be allowed to buy or sell, 
unless he had the mark or name of the beast, or the num- 
ber of his name " (verses 16, 17). This is a very signif- 
icant matter, that in those times, to be secure in business, 
whether spiritual or temporal, one had to belong to the 
Catholio Church. It is hardly probable that this mark 
in the head or hand was visible, like the mark or brand 
which the ranchman is wont to place upon his cattle. 
Perhaps a Catholic in heart and conscience would fill 
the requirements of the mark in the head, and one who 
is nominally a Catholic for the mart in the hand ; while 
wearing the number of the name would be filled by call- 
ing themselves by the name that has the numeral value 
of 666. 



CHAPTEK XIV. 



THE FALL OP BABYLON, AND HARVEST OF THE WORLD. 

" I beheld, and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, 
and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having 
his name and. his Father's written in their foreheads " 
(Rev. xiv. 1). Notwithstanding all the persecutions 
and deaths that were to come to the saints, as foreshad- 
owed in the wicked reign of the two beasts and the image, 
we have here, in the opening of the fourteenth chapter, 
a flash of heavenly light that brings cheer to the hearts 
of God's people, " The Lamb." The Lord Jesus, with 
a select company of a hundred and forty-four thousand 
of the purest and best of earth's tenantry, with the Lord's 
name and his Father's name engraved in their intellec- 
tual consciousness. These are not the one hundred and 
forty-four thousand Jews of chapter vii., but a company 
of the purest of all nations who were the firstfruits to 
God and the Lamb — not the first in order of time, but the 
first in purity and perfection. "And I heard a voice 
from heaven" — described as the roar of much water, and 
the roar of great thunder, and it was as the sound of 
many harpers upon their harps. "And it was the song 
which they [the one hundred and forty-four thousand] 
sang before the throne, and the four living creatures, 
and the elders: and no man could learn this song but 
these one hundred and forty-four thousand, who were 
redeemed from the earth : for these are they who were 
not defiled with women ; for they are virgins ; who f ol- 



146 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



low the Lamb wherever he goes. And they were pur- 
chased from among men, being the flrstfrnits unto God 
and the Lamb. And in their mouth was no falsehood : 
they were without blemish " (verses 2-5). As they ex- 
cel in purity over all the earth, there was also given 
them the power to make all heaven ring with the songs of 
their glory, which no others could sing. 

"And I saw another messenger flying in mid-heaven, 
having an everlasting message to proclaim unto them 
who dwell upon the earth ; to every tribe, nation, tongue 
and people. And with a great voice he said, Tear God, 
and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has 
come: and worship him who made heaven, and earth, 
and the sea, and fountains of water" (verses 6, 7). 
This, to my mind, is none other than the art of printing, 
as controlled and utilized by the American and Foreign 
Bible Societies, and the various Christian missionary 
societies which are circulating the word of God among 
all nations; which gives especial emphasis to the fact 
that " when this gospel of the kingdom is preached 
in all the world for a witness unto all nations, then shall 
the end come " (Matt. xxiv. 14). 

"Another messenger follows, saying, Babylon the 
great has fallen, has fallen, which has made all na- 
tions drink of the wrath of her fornication " (verse 8). 
This Babylon the great is evidently the Babylon of chap- 
ters xvii. and xviii., and of the beast of chapter xiii. 

"Another, a third messenger, followed them, saying 
with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his 
image, or receive his mark in his forehead, or in his 
hand, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 



EEVELATION OF JESUS CIISIST. 



147 



which is prepared without mixture in the cup of his 
anger ; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 
in the presence of the holy angels, and the Lamb: and 
the smoke of their torment goes np for ever and ever; 
and they have no rest day or night, that worship the 
beast and his image, or who receive the mark of hi3 
name" (verses 9-11). Here is a serious and dreadful 
warning to abstain from the sanction or worship of the 
abominations set out in chapter xiii. Hence it becomes 
important for the children of God to ascertain what this 
monster is, and in what the worship of this symbolical 
beast consists. It should be evident to the thoughtful 
reader that this abomination exists in the church, as the 
Scriptures clearly teach that it does — " sits in the tem- 
ple of God/' exhibiting its power as the power of God, 
and exists by fraud and lying wonders and deceitfulness, 
proposes to rule Christianity and all the world, and does 
actually command the adoration and respect of a large 
majority of humanity, where its power and rule extend. 
The reader of history ought to be able to locate its lead- 
ing features in time, seeing there is not, and never has 
been, but one pretended Christian power in the geo- 
graphical location assigned it which fills the measure of 
its rise, progress and work. 

Eight here I am reminded that there is a large per 
cent, of professing Christians who are in doubt as to what 
constitutes this apostasy. Having no rule by which they 
can determine what is false and wrong in the church 
and listening to the " Lo here, and Lo there" they be- 
come confused, and conclude that one religion is about as 
good as another, etc. It ought to be manifest to any 



148 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



thoughtful and sincere student of the Scriptures that 
the oracles of God were given to direct the people of God 
in the way they ought to go, and that this is especially 
true of the New Covenant Scriptures under which we 
are now placed. And as these Scriptures are able to 
make the man of faith wise unto salvation, and perfect 
before God, any departure from the faith and doctrine 
laid down therein ought to be looked upon with suspicion, 
and avoided. It does not matter, then, from whence 
this departure emanates, whether from Protestantism 
or Catholicism, it is all alike questionable, and should be 
avoided. J esus said : " In vain do you worship me 
teaching the commandments of man." 

In looking for this apostate power, we can not look 
for an organization that approximates the divine model, 
but, if we are guided by the outlines of inspiration as 
given in II. Thessalonians ii. and Revelation xiii. and 
xvii., we must look for some power that completely sub- 
verts Christianity and supplants Christ. Where shall 
we find it ? It is defined by Paul as being a power that 
" exhibits itself as God " (II. Thess. ii. 4 — last clause). 
This could only be done by setting aside the wisdom of 
God and substituting its own. I need hardly say that 
Roman Catholicism does this very thing, and is the only 
pretended Christian power that does effectually do it. 
There are other Christian powers that are aping Rome, 
some more and some less, but Rome is the only power 
that effectually and completely subverts the gospel. The 
reader should be careful and considerate here, for " if any 
man worship the beast or his image, or receive his mark, 
the same shall receive of the wine of the wrath of God. 



KEVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



149 



that is poured out in the cup of his anger; and he 
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the pres- 
ence of the holy angels and the Lamb " (xiv. 8-11). The 
only safe rule, then, is to discard everything we have 
received by tradition, from Rome or her daughters — 
she has daughters, as she is the " mother of harlots " 
(Rev. xvii. 5)- — and adhere to the word of God alone, 
and then we are safe, for God tells us in his Word that 
" all Scripture inspired of God is profitable for teach- 
ing, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in doing 
right : that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
furnished to every good work" (II. Tim. iii. 16, 17). 
By taking heed to this, we can escape the corruption that 
is in the world, and have admittance into the everlasting 
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (II. 
Pet. i. 10, 11.) 

" I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this, 
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from hence- 
forth: Yea, says the Spirit, for they rest from their 
labors; and their works do follow them. Here is 
encouragement for the patience of the saints, and for 
them who keep the commandments of God and the faith 
of Jesus" (verses 12, 13). This "henceforth" is 
doubtless from the time that John heard the voice in the 
Isle of Patmos. 

" I saw, and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud 
one sat who was like the Son of man, having on his head 
a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And 
another angel came out from the temple, and cried with 
a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth 
your sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap has come; 



150 REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



for the harvest of the earth is overripe. And he who sat 
on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth ; and the earth 
was reaped" (verses 14-16). This is so exactly like 
what the Saviour affirmed (Matt. xiii. 24-30) that I 
must suppose they both have reference to the same time ; 
that is, the second coming of the Lord. 

"Another angel came out from the temple which is 
in heaven ; he also had a sharp sickle. And another an- 
gel came out from the altar, who had power over fire ; 
and he called with a great voice to the angel that had the 
sharp sickle, saying, Send forth your sharp sickle, and 
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her 
grapes are fully ripe. And the angel cast his sickle 
into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and 
cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and 
there came out blood from the press, even unto the 
bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hun- 
dred furlongs [or two hundred miles]" (verses 17-20). 
What this symbolical sheet of blood may mean I do not 
now ] ropose to inquire; it is sufficient for us 1o know 
that it comprehends the destruction of the wicked when 
the Lord comes. This brings us down the third time to 
the second coming of the Son of God. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE SEVEN VIALS, 
Rkvilation XV., XVI. 

" I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, 
seven angels having seven plagues, for in them is finished 
the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass 
mingled with fire: and I saw them who had come off 
victorious over the beast, and his image, and over the 
number of his name, standing upon the glassy sea, having 
harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the ser- 
vant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great 
and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the almighty; 
true and righteous are thy ways, thou King of the na- 
tions. Who should not fear you, O Lord, and glorify 
thy name ? for you only are holy : and all nations shall 
come and worship before you; for your righteous acts 
are made manifest " (Rev. xv. 1-4). This certainly 
shows that nations are to be continued upon the earth. 
This reaping, then, is only partial ; all are not swept out 
of existence by this reaping. The fact that these per- 
sons got the victory over the beast, his image and the 
number of his name shows that this scene, whatever it 
may indicate, comes up after the beast has done its work. 
And the fact that they praise God for his judgments, 
evidently those inflicted by the last vials, shows that it is 
closely, if not exactly, connected with the destruction 
that comes upon the world when the Lord comes, possi- 
bly to or at the time when the angel of the fourteenth 



152 THE WONDERS OF THE 

chapter gathered the clusters of the vine of the 
earth, simply giving a more minute account of that 
affair. 

Again John sees "the temple of the tabernacle of tes- 
timony opened in heaven: and there came out of the 
temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, ar- 
rayed with precious linen, pure and white, and girt about 
their breasts with golden girdles. And one of the four 
living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven gold 
vials full of the wrath of God, who lives for ever and 
ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the 
glory of God, and from his power ; and no one was able 
to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the 
seven angels should be fulfilled " (verses 5-8). The Bi- 
ble reader will remember similar demonstrations when 
the old tabernacle was dedicated by Moses at Horeb, 
and when Solomon dedicated the temple. They were 
filled with a smoke, or cloud, that made it so dark with- 
in that the priests could not minister therein. It is a 
demonstration of God's presence and glory. If thesevials 
are poured out to accomplish the destruction of the wicked 
when the Lord comes, then these plagues are yet future, 
or mostly so, and if the temple of God in this connection 
means the church, then it would indicate that these seven 
angels were some force or power that would come forth 
from the church, and that should accomplish the things 
signified by the seven plagues. And that no one could 
enter the church from the beginning to the end of these 
plagues may be a fact that will confront the world when 
the Lord comes. But I do not wish to affirm this very 
positively. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



153 



" I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to 
the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the seven 
vials of the wrath of God into the earth. And the first 
went, and poured out his vial upon the earth ; and it 
caused a grievous sore upon the men who had the mark 
of the beast, and who worshiped his image " (Eev. xvi. 
1, 2). This shows that the beast and his image were in 
existence at this time, though indirectly at the very close 
of their career. Just what this sore was, or is to be, I 
do not wish now to affirm. It is barely possible that the 
first vial was poured out in 1570, when the pope began 
to lose his temporal power, which has been a grievous 
sore to the men of Rome ; who are gnawing their tongues 
in pain. 

" The second angel poured out his vial in the sea ; 
and it became as the blood of a dead man : and every 
living soul that was in the sea, and had life, died " (verse 
3 ) . This perhaps means a great naval conflict, in which 
all the naval armaments of the world, as well as those 
who manage them, will be measurably destroyed. This 
is indicated by the very strong symbol of the sea becom- 
ing blood, causing death. That something of this kind 
may happen is not at all improbable when we know that 
all nations are striving to outdo each other in naval ar- 
mament. It is possible this is very near now. 

" The third angel poured out his vial into the rivers 
and upon the fountains of water, and they became blood " 
(verse 4). I judge that this means a clash of arms 
among the nations on earth, that will be fearful and 
bloody. These are the nations, too, that have been pour- 
ing out the blood of the saints and prophets of God, and 



THy WONDERS OF THE 



who, by their continued wickedness, deserve the venge- 
ance of God, even as God said to Moses, " Visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third 
and fourth generation of them who continue to hate me " 
(Ex. xx. 5). I say "them who continue to hate me" 
because continue is implied in the text. This is also 
implied in the text of Kevelation xvi. 4-7, as follows : 
" I heard the angel of the waters [" waters " are sym- 
bolical for " peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues 99 
— see chapter xvii. 15] say, You are righteous, thou holy 
one, who is, and was, because you have thus judged. For 
they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, 
and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve 
it. And I heard a voice from the altar saying, Yes, O 
Lord God, the almighty, true and just are thy judg- 
ments " (verses 5-7). 

" The fourth poured out his vial upon the sun ; and 
it was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men 
were scorched with great heat, and they reproached the 
name of God, who had power over these plagues : and re- 
pented not to give him glory " (verses 8, 9). The sym- 
bol of the sun, the source of light and heat, becomes in 
soma way intensified, and the scorching with great heat 
is a symbol of intense suffering. But they " repented 
not," 

" The fifth poured out his vial upon the throne 
of the beast ; and his kingdom was darkened ; and they 
gnawed their tongues for pain, and they reproached 
the name of the God of heaven because of their pains 
and their sores, but repented not of their work 99 
(verses 10, 11). Here is another visitation upon the 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHBIST. 



155 



beast. " His throne," however, as I understand the 
symbol, is every land and country that owns his rule. 
How it is to be darkened I can hardly guess; as far 
as superstitious darkness is concerned, it does seem to 
me that it is about as dark as it can be made. This 
superstitious darkness, however, is not what gives them 
pain, for this kind of darkness is a thing in which she 
glories and by which she lives. 

" The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great 
river Euphrates; and the waters thereof were dried 
up, that the way [road] might be made ready [or 
opened] for the kings of the east to come. And I saw 
three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the 
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of 
the mouth of the false prophet " (verses 12, 13). This 
shows that the lives of the dragon, the beast and the 
false prophet have been prolonged, as we find them 
here close to the second coming of our Lord. This also 
shows that they do not succeed one another, but reign 
contemporaneously with each other, though they do not 
all begin at the same time. 

" They are the spirits of demons working signs, and 
they go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to 
gather them together unto the war of the great day of 
God Almighty" (verse 14). "Behold, I come as a 
thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his gar- 
ments, lest he walk naked, and his shame be seen. And 
they gathered themselves together into a place which 
in the Hebrew tongue is called Armageddon " (verses 
15, 16). If my previous symbolical interpretation of 
the great river Euphrates is correct, and I think it is, 



156 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



this great river Euphrates of verse 12 must be taken 
as the Turkish (or Mahometan) Empire. Therefore 
the drying up of these waters is equivalent to the over- 
throw of that empire, or Turkish rule. " That a 
road might be made for the kings of the east " is a 
little uncertain, but the context goes to show that they 
are to be gathered together at Ar-Magido (or Her- 
Magedon), a place supposed to be north of Palestine, 
possibly as far north as Hammoth, And the context 
also shows that this gathering together is for war with 
the army on one side and Almighty God on the other 
side. Doubtless it is the same gathering and the 
same battle referred to by Ezekiel (xxxviii. and 
xxxix.), as also in Revelation xix. 17-20. 

This supposition gathers strength from the inter- 
spersed declaration, " Behold, I come as a thief. 
Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments " 
(Rev. xvi. 15). This shows that this gathering for 
war is closely, perhaps immediately, connected with the 
second coming of God's Sou. If this is the same gath- 
ering and the same battle as that referred to in chapter 
xix. 17-20, then the means of their destruction is the 
sword that proceeds from the Lord's mouth, which is 
the Lord's word — he commanded it. 

The destruction of Ezekiel xxxviii. and xxxix. seems 
to confine that great gathering to the Mahometan and 
Russian Empires, while this in Revelation xvi. 12-16 
seems to involve the dragon, the beast and the false 
prophet. That the beast (the Catholic power) will 
be involved is also probable, though possibly only in 
sympathy. Taking Ezekiel as an index to this struggle 



EEVELATIOK OF JESUS CHRIST. 



157 



of Ar-Magedon, the Mahometan and Russian Empires 
are bent on the slaughter of the Jews, who, according 
to Ezekiel, are gathered back into their own land. And 
if the Catholic power is the beast, as it certainly is, we 
then know from certain indications that Rome will 
be in sympathy with Russia and Turkey in the con- 
templated slaughter of the Jews. Within the last 
year, when the Pope ascertained from the report of the 
Zionist Jews' great gathering that they would make 
an effort to purchase Palestine of the Turkish Sultan, 
he at once wrote the Sultan insisting that he should 
not let the Jews have Palestine. Why he should busy 
himself against the Jews is hard to tell, but his atti- 
tude was probably born of that persistent hate that has 
manifested itself .against the Jews ever since the Catholic 
Church has had an existence. It has robbed, perse- 
cuted, banished, slaughtered and treated the Jews as 
the meanest of slaves times without number, and still 
insists upon abusing them. It is certain that there 
can be no moral or religious consideration that in- 
fluences the Pope to use his immense power and influ- 
ence against the return of the Jews to their ancient 
inheritance. All Christendom will acknowledge at 
once that the Jews' religion is as good as that of the 
Turks; and as to morality, it is better. 

In support of the second advent as connected with 
this great battle, I will here quote Ezekiel xxxviii. 17- 
23 : " Thus saith the Lord God ; Are you he of whom 
I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets, 
who prophesied in those days that in many years I 
would bring thee against them ? And it shall come 



158 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



to pass that at the time when Gog shall come against 
the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, my fury shall 
come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the 
fire of my wrath have I spoken it: surely in that day 
there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel ; so 
that the fish of the sea, and the fowls of heaven, 
and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that 
creep upon the earth, and all men upon the face of 
the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the moun- 
tains shall be thrown down, and the precipices shall 
fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I 
-will call for a sword against him throughout all my 
mountain, says the Lord God : every man's sword shall 
be against his brother. And I will plead against him 
with pestilence and blood; and I will rain upon him, 
and upon his bands, and the many people who are with 
him, an overflowing rain, of great hailstones, fire, and 
brimstone." It is very evident that this prophecy of 
Ezekiel, as well as those of Revelation xvi. 12-14, 16, 
and xix. 17-21, have none of them been fulfilled; but 
they all will be as certain as that God lives ; and each 
and all of them, as I read the symbols, are closely 
connected with the second coming of the Son of God. 
With these reflections before us, we are prepared to con- 
sider the events of the seventh vial. 

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the 
air ; and there came forth a great voice out of the tem- 
ple, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there 
were lightnings, voices, and thunderings, and a great 
earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the 
earth, so great and so mighty an earthquake. And the 



REVELATION OE JESUS CHRIST. 



159 



great city was divided into three parts, and the cities 
of the nations fell : and Babylon the great was remem- 
bered before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine 
of the fierceness of his wrath. Every island fled away, 
and the mountains were not found. And great hail of 
about the weight of a talent came down out of heaven 
upon men: and men reproached God because of the 
plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was very 
great" (Rev. xvi. 17-21). This must be taken as the 
sum total of all God's chastisement of the world up to 
the time that the Son of God and his people take the 
kingdom of the world and possess it. (Dan. vii. 13, 14, 
27; Rev. xi. 15; xx. 4.) It therefore includes the 
fall of Babylon in chapter xviii., and the destruction of 
chapter xix. 17-21. The retribution of Babylon the 
great come under this seventh vial, but John pauses in 
the seventeenth chapter to give us a more minute out- 
line of Babylon the great, under the head of the beast 
and its rider, which John says is the mother of harlots 
and abominations of the earth, and " Babylon the 
great," whose tragic end is detailed in chapter xviii., 
but here remembered in chapter xvi. 19. The earth- 
quake here described as far more terrible than any- 
thing that had ever happened to man before, the dis- 
turbance of the mountains and islands, and the great 
hail from heaven of a talent's weight (about one hun- 
dred pounds), all indicate something dreadful; 
whether, therefore, we regard them as political dis- 
turbances, or the more direct vengeance of God, it will 
be fearful and terrible. .... 



160 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



That the great city was divided into three parts 
is significant of the fact that the so-called church was 
divided into three parts, if I read the symbolism right. 
This may mean three divisions of the Catholic Church, 
or it may mean three divisions of the whole church — 
Greek, Catholic and Protestant. That the church was 
divided only while the " cities of the nations " fall 
may mean all the forms of heathen or idolatrous 
religion. 

In regard to the length of time involved from the 
beginning of the pouring out of these vials to their 
close: I do not think they come all at once; in fact, 
the order in which they stand, and the results which 
followed, forbid that they should occur simultane- 
ously. Neither is it necessary to suppose that God 
does these things directly, without human agency. 
They doubtless come up similar to the destruction of 
the Jews in A. D. 70. The Saviour said of it : " These 
be the days of vengeance, that all things which are 
written may be fulfilled " (Luke xxi. 22). Yet in 
this case we know that God employed human agency, 
but so controlled it that the Jews suffered on every 
hand. And I think the same will be true in regard to 
the pouring out of God's wrath upon the world. The 
pouring out of the vials possibly began in A. D. 1870. 
and it is possible, too, that we are now starting in 
under the second vial, though from this one I expect 
them to proceed more rapidly. Fifty or sixty years 
may bring us to their close. That some such fearful 
disturbance is indicated we learn from our Lord in 
Luke xxi. 25-27 : " Upon the earth distress of nations, 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



161 



with perplexity; the sea and waves roaring; men's 
hearts failing them through fear, by looking after the 
things that are coming on the earth. . . . Then shall 
they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with 
power and great glory." 

We will next consider the same beast and apostate 
church described in chapter xiii., but here under an- 
other form of symbol and in some respects more 
specifically described. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE WOMAN ARRAYED IN SCARLET. 
Revelation xvii. 

Here one of the seven angels who poured out one 
of the seven vials says to John : " Come here, and I 
will show you the judgment of the great harlot that 
sits upon many waters: with whom the kings of the 
earth have committed fornication, and they who dwell 
on the earth have been made drunk with the wine of 
her fornication. So he carried me away in spirit into 
a desert region: and I saw a woman sitting upon a 
scarlet-colored beast, full of blasphemous names, and 
had seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was 
arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold 
and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a 
golden cup full of abominations and the unclean things 
of her fornication: and upon her forehead a name 
written which was, Mystery, Babylon the Great, 
The Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations 
of the Earth. And I saw that the woman was 
drunk with the blood of the saints, and of the martyrs 
of Jesus." 

John was astonished at this. Before this, John 
had seen the two beasts and the image of the beast, 
which represented this woman and this beast, but now 
he sees it under different symbols, and so different 
that it astonishes him. This verifies the conclusion to 
which I have been forced, that no rigid, inflexible rule 

162 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



163 



can be adopted to interpret these symbols ; that we must 
largely gather their meaning from the contextual bear- 
ing of the passage or passages in which they occur. 
There can be no doubt that this woman here represents 
an apostate church, but just what church must be gath- 
ered from what is affirmed of her work and decora- 
tions, for her decorations are significant or they would 
not have been named. " She was arrayed in purple 
and scarlet, and decorated with gold and precious stones 
and pearls." 

The Purple. — The purple, as we all know, was the 
symbol of imperial Rome; we read time and again of 
the emperors, when chosen, being invested with the 
purple. While, therefore, this woman was riding upon 
the civil powers that supported her, she nevertheless 
was attired with the purple herself. This can only 
mean that she wielded the imperial scepter herself. 
According to a general rule in Scripture — to mention 
the most important feature first — the purple would in- 
dicate that the most important feature in her composi- 
tion was her imperial power. If, therefore, we in-' 
quire into her pretensions, we find that she actually 
assumed to wear the purple — the power to make and 
unmake the kings and emperors for the countries over 
which she ruled; over those who gave their power and 
strength to her — as is evident in the treatment that 
Charles IV. of Germany, and King John of England, 
received at her hands, as well as their lordly preten- 
sions to rule and govern the world. 

Scarlet. — She was also arrayed in scarlet. Scarlet 
is the symbol of monkish cardinalism, and is worn by 



164 



THE WONDERS OE THE 



the cardinals as such. And as the pope must be se- 
lected from the conclave of cardinals, he wears the 
scarlet; and as the beast is also scarlet-colored , all her 
officials who wear the scarlet may safely be taken a3 
the beast. 

Decked. — Decked with gold. Perhaps there never 
was a power on earth, civil or ecclesiastical, that took 
more pride in decorating their palaces with gold than 
have the popes of Rome. When the time came in her 
history that the wealth of all Europe was poured into 
the Vatican by her iswning sycophants, in such abund- 
ance that even the popes became bewildered thereat, 
the question was, What shall I do with these my great 
treasures ? I will tear down these cobwebs, and I 
will line this palace with gold, and here I will bestow 
my treasure. Then will I say unto myself, I am Lord 
God the Pope, the civil and ecclesiastical ruler of the 
world; eat and drink, and enjoy thy magnificence. 

So the Vatican was lined with gold, and the images 
of Jesus and his mother and the saints adorned its 
niches. Some one has said that if all the gold wasted 
on the Vatican were coined, it would make more money 
than there is in circulation in all Europe to-day. This 
is, perhaps, a little extravagant ; but, be that as it may, 
there are immense quantities of gold foolishly wasted 
by the popes of Rome in decorating the Holy See. 
This is a sad reflection upon their pride and vanity, 
and travesty upon their being the vicars of Christ, who 
himself had nowhere to lay his head, and whom the 
devils could not tempt with the offer of all the king- 
doms of the world. He succeeded better in Rome. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



1G5 



Even St. Peter, whose successors they pretend to be, 
said, " Gold and silver have I none." 

Precious Stones. — Peter calls the Saviour an elect, 
precious stone, and terms the saints who are so indeed 
as " living stones, a spiritual house," etc. (I. Pet. ii. 
4, 5). In this sense Eome has decorated herself with 
a long list of saints which she claims as belonging to 
her communion. The pearls may fitly represent some 
of the truest churches that ever existed, which she also 
claims in her communion, many of whom would, like 
Samuel of old, be disquieted if called before this 
modern witch of Endor. 

Here I will pause and let John give us the inter- 
pretation of some of the beast and this woman's uni- 
form. The angel tells John that the beast he saw 
" ivas " (that is, did once exist), but we must remember 
that the standpoint from which John see3 this vision is 
at the close of her career, at a time when she is intoxi- 
cated with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. There- 
fore he looks backward to the time when imperial 
Rome began to carry the woman, and affirms of the 
beast that it once existed; then he says " it was not" ; 
that is, for a brief space of time; which is true of im- 
perial Rome. And it was again to come up out of 
the " abyss " (an indefinite somewhere), and should go 
into perdition. "And they who dwell upon the earth 
whose names are not enrolled in the book of life shali 
wonder . . . when they behold the beast that ivas, and 
is not, and yet is." This is a strange averment, yet it 
is true to the very letter. Imperial Rome, as I said 
above, took the woman upon its back, and ceased, was 



166 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



not, when imperial Rome gave up the ghost ; but came 
into existence again in the confusion of the hour by 
the pope assuming imperial power and authority in 
the days of Pepin and Charlemagne. So, however 
singular the averment, it is true that the beast that 
carried the Catholic Church once existed, and then 
ceased to exist, and afterward was revived by the popes 
of Rome. So far, then, from being a trivial expres- 
sion, it is a powerful factor to establish the inspiration 
of this Book of Revelation, and also serves the purpose 
of leading up to the identity of the lewd woman of 
chapter xvii. 

" The seven heads are seven mountains, on which 
the woman is sitting. Of these, there have been seven 
kingdoms : five of them have been, one now exists, and 
the other has not yet come ; and when it comes, it must 
continue a short space. And the beast that was, and 
is not, is the eighth, but is of the seven, and goes into 
perdition. And the ten horns which you saw are ten 
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but re- 
ceive authority as kings one hour with the beast. 
These [ten kings] have one mind and authority, and 
they give their power and authority to the beast. And 
they make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb, and 
they who are with him who are faithful and chosen, 
shall overcome them: for the Lamb is Lord of lords, 
and King of kings: . . . The waters which you saw, 
where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, 
and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw upon 
the beast, shall hate the harlot, and shall make her 
desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and utterly 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



167 



burn her with fire. For God has put it into their 
minds to do his will, and to come to one conclusion, 
and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words 
of God should be fulfilled. And the woman that you 
saw is that great city, that reigns over the kings of the 
earth" (Rev. xvii. 9-18). 

I do not think we can well escape the identity of 
this beast. It is some power that is exerted over ten 
subordinate powers or kingdoms, which completely con- 
trols those ten kingdoms for awhile. At the close of 
this subordination those ten powers rebel and lend their 
hand to destroy that power which they had for a time 
nurtured and built up. Surely there was no civil and 
ecclesiastical power combined which carried the church 
for any considerable time, and put the people of God 
to death, that ever existed except that which governed 
the Church of Rome, exhibited in its popes, cardinals 
and bishops, which kept its civil and ecclesiastical ma- 
chinery running. 

Its seven heads, or seven mountains, are not so 
easily identified. It is stated in verse 1 that this 
" woman was sitting upon many waters'' and it is 
stated in verse 9 that " the seven heads are seven moun- 
tains, on which the woman was sitting." And it is 
stated in verse 15 that " the waters upon [or by] 
which you saw the woman sitting, are peoples, multi- 
tudes, tongues, and nations." I therefore think it quite 
probable that these three averments should be concen- 
trated into one, and, if so, then the seven heads means 
seven different nationalities, not kingdoms. But I 
shall not attempt here to define them further than to say 



168 



THE WONDERS OE THE 



that Italy is one of them. Those seven nationalities, 
in process of time, were seven kingdoms. When John 
first saw the dragon before the woman, his seven heads 
wore seven crowns. (Rev. xii. 3.) This dragon was 
evidently personified in pagan imperial Rome as it 
existed in the early days of Christianity. But the 
history of the Roman Empire at that time as to the sub- 
ordinate crowned heads is so multiform and uncertain 
that I shall not attempt to ferret them out now. It is 
a well-known fact, however, that when the Saracens 
overran the Roman Empire they annihilated all the 
crowned rulers of about two-thirds of that empire. 
Gibbon says : " One hundred years after the flight of 
Mahomet from Mecca, the arms and reign of his suc- 
cessors extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean. 
The various and distinct provinces comprised Persia. 
Syria, Egypt, Africa and Spain" (Vol. V., p. 175). 
And it is quite likely that this accounts for the fall of 
the five kings, or kingdoms, of verse 10; not the 
" heads " of verse 9. It is not stated that any of those 
heads were dead, or should die, but that one of them 
had a deadly wound by a sword, but recovered (was 
healed). (Rev. xiii. 3.) I have already mentioned 
this on a former page. 

It should be remembered, too, that what John saw 
in the symbols of this chapter as the woman and the 
beast, existed in history from the time the woman 
began her equestrian practice upon the back of the 
beast (civil power), which was composed of the aggre- 
gated ten kingdoms of chapter xvii. 12. That those 
ten horns should be called " kings reigning one hour 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



169 



with the beast " is a very reasonable interpretation of 
" basileis" as these kings came and went, by reason of 
the shortness of life, very rapidly, fitly represented by 
" one hour." Their successors, however, took up the 
same thread of implicit obedience to the Church of 
Rome in her civil and ecclesiastical rule, till the word 
of God as to that fact was accomplished. (See verse 
17.) Then and thereafter they ceased, or repudiated 
the rule of Rome. In the end these ten kingdoms, 
which have been dominated over and spiritually ruined 
by Rome, will not only shake off her rule, but shall 
make her desolate and naked (expose her wickedness), 
and shall eventually destroy her — " eat her flesh, and 
utterly burn her with fire." These kings, or kingdoms, 
are described by Holy Writ as sharing with this wom- 
an in her lewd practices (verse 2). This is com- 
pletely verified in the fact that those kings, or king- 
doms, of which the so-called holy Roman Empire (that 
is, the German or Gothic) was composed lent their 
strength and power to do the will and bidding of this 
mistress of the world in the persecution, torture and 
death of the saints during their joint reign, down to 
the butchery of seventy thousand Protestants in two 
days by the dreadful massacre of St. Bartholomew's 
in 1572, over which Rome greatly rejoiced. 

We will now leave the seventeenth chapter for 
awhile to listen to the funeral oration delivered over 
the remains of this once proud and boastful church. 
This funeral oration is delivered by a master who 
knows whereof he speaks, and, unlike modern funeral 
addresses, which extol all the virtues, real or imagi- 



170 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



nary, and leave the blemishes untouched, this one gives 
the true character and destiny of the abomination. In 
the outline of crimes charged, and the boasted power, 
pride, and luxury of this monster, we will be able to 
gather some further items that will lead to the identity 
of this lewd woman. 

THE FUNERAL. 

"After these things I saw another angel come down 
from heaven, who had great authority; and the earth 
was lighted with his glory. And he cried with a 
mighty voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is 
fallen, and has become the habitation of demons, and a 
hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every un- 
clean and hateful bird. For by her fornication all na- 
tions are fallen, and the kings of the earth have com- 
mitted fornication with her, and the merchants of the 
earth have become rich through the power of her 
wantonness" (chapter xviii. 1-3). This shows the 
contaminating power, spread and influence of false 
teaching and wicked practices. It has carried the na- 
tions of the earth with it till they have fallen morally 
and religiously. And the kings of the earth who have 
aided and abetted her, and those who enriched them- 
selves by handling her spiritual wares, have all been 
involved in her ruin. 

At this point a voice comes forth from heaven, say- 
ing, " Come out of her, my people, and have no fellow- 
ship with her sins, so that you receive not of her- 
plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and 
God has remembered her iniquities. Kender unto her 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



171 



as she has rendered unto you, and double unto her ac- 
cording to her works: the cup she has mingled, mingle 
to her double. In how much soever she has glori- 
fied herself, and waxed wanton, so much torment and 
sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit as 
a queen, I am no widow ! ! and I shall in nowise see 
mourning ! !" This shows, if it shows anything, that 
the people of God are to some extent the instruments 
of her destruction, and it shows another thing, that 
some of the people of God are in her communion, for" 
this is indicated in the voice of " Come out of her, my 
people." This does not mean to come out of her geo- 
graphical territory, but simply to separate themselves 
from her wicked practices and from her communion. 
And it shows, too, that her retribution is to be swift 
and effectual. " For in one day shall her plagues come, 
death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be ut- 
terly burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God who 
judges her" (verse 8). 

Then follow a fearful wailing for her by them 
who have been dealing in her abominations, and a long 
list of her merchandise and spiritual wares, the signif- 
icance of which I do not care now to investigate, save 
only that it indicates that she has adopted every means 
in her power to gratify her lusts. However, the last 
two items in the long list call for special attention; 
namely, her dealing " in slaves and the souls of men " 
(verse 13). There is not in existence, or on exhibition 
before the world to-day, a more downtrodden and abject 
set of spiritual slaves than the ignorant votaries of 
Eoman Catholicism. Go where you will among the 



172 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



ignorant of Italy, Spain, South America, or even those 
of our own land, you find them chained down in igno- 
rance and superstition, forbidden even to read the 
Scriptures, or to attend schools or the preaching of the 
gospel where truth may be found. And it is surpris- 
ing to see what servile slaves they are, and how will- 
ingly they bow to the behests of their spiritual and cor- 
rupt lords. 

She also deals in the " souls of men." There is not 
another religious organization on earth that so effec- 
tually fills this measure as does the Church of Rome. 
She has devised a purgatory into which she hurls ten 
thousand times ten thousand of the souls of her igno- 
rant victims, whose friends must purchase their way 
out with a great price, or those wretched victims must 
suffer on forever. Thus she teaches. But the hour 
must come when she will be compelled to unload her 
wares, and suffer the righteous judgment of God and 
the contempt of all who know the truth. I will remark, 
too, that Rome is being gradually wasted away now 
under the force of truth. Now and then criminals of 
the deepest dye, when about to suffer death for their 
crimes, stretch forth their hands in their despair to 
the mitered cowl, imploring their forgiveness as a last, 
but certainly unavailing, refuge from God's wrath. 
But otherwise her proselyting is done — is at an end. 

" Thy merchants were once the princes of the 
earth." " Thy merchants " simply means her mitered 
officials, who have been raised from poverty to opulence 
by dealing in her lewd practices. " For with thy sor- 
ceries were all nations deceived. And in her was 



REVELATION OF JESUS CUBIST. 



173 



found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all 
who were slain upon the earth" (verses 23, 24). This 
is a pretty strong indictment, but it is in exact har- 
mony with the Saviour's statement concerning the wick- 
edness of the Jews in his own day. He says : " From 
the blood of righteous Abel to that of Zacharias, whom 
you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I 
say unto you, It shall be required of this generation " 
(Matt, xxiii. 35, 36). As I understand the Saviour 
here, the acts of the Jews toward him and his fol- 
lowers were so desperately wicked that it overshadowed 
the slaughter of Abel and Zacharias in infamy, conse- 
quently the excessive measure of their punishment. The 
same is reproduced in Roman Catholicism. 

This brings us to the close of Revelation xviii., and 
to the retribution that comes under the seventh vial ; but 
we are not yet done with the results of this vial. In 
chapter xix. we have the rejoicing among the saints and 
angels over the downfall of the great apostasy; the 
preparations for the greatest event of the world — the 
marriage supper of the Lamb ; and the final destruction 
of the wicked when the Lord comes. I will, at the 
close of this volume, devote a chapter to the considera- 
tion of the deep meaning of the chapters which have 
been before us that give the measure and outlines of the 
great apostasy. 



CHAPTEK XVII. 



REFLECTIONS UPON THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND 
PURPOSES OF GOD IN REGARD TO THE 
GREAT APOSTASY. 

My investigation of the prophecies of Daniel, Paul 
and John goes to show that God knew all about this 
apostasy and terrible state of things in the church, as 
symbolized in Revelation xii. to xix., hundreds of 
years before those things passed into history. Not only 
this, but that some parts of the panorama were 
according to the will of God. Not that he approved 
the actions of the dragon or the beast or the lewd 
woman, for we are plainly told these were con- 
trary to the will of God ; but that the church, under the 
forced necessity of the circumstances, should enter its 
wilderness or desert state partly out of the reach yf the 
serpent dragon, where she had a place prepared of 
God, aud where they should feed her twelve hundred 
and sixty days, or years, was the will of God. 

It was also the will of God that those ten kingdoms. 1 
or kings as it is called in chapter xvii., should give their 
power and strength unto the beast that carried this 
woman, till the words of God should be fulfilled (Rev. 
xvii. 17). As Paul expresses it: "Because they 
would not receive the truth and love it, that they might 
be saved. God sends them strong delusions, that they 
might believe a lie ; that they all might be condemned 
who disbelieved the truth, and had pleasure in unright- 
eousness " (II. Thess. ii. 10-12). It was doubtless. 

174 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



175 



also, the will of God that this apostasy should develop 
its true character by abusing the true followers of 
Christ by death and confiscation of property, just as it 
was " the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
God that his Son should be delivered into the hands of 
the Jews, to be by them crucified and slain," but it 
was not his will that those who did those things 
to him should wickedly do the deed; that was 
their part. It was doubtless his will, also, that 
Stephen and the apostles should suffer bravely for 
the truth of the gospel as they did ; but it was not his 
will that those wretches who condemned and slew them 
should do as they did ; that was their part — as u seducers 
waxing worse and worse, deceiving and being de- 
ceived." I am also forced to the conclusion that it 
was God's will that all who would not receive the truth 
nor love it, that they might be saved, but took pleasure 
in unrighteousness, should have strong delusions that 
would lead them on to condemnation. (See II. Thess. 
ii. 10-12.) 

Because of our ignorance or inability to compre- 
hend the full purposes of God, or his power, will and 
ability to reward the righteous in the world to come, we 
sometimes think it a little hard that God should thus 
let his people suffer and be abused in this life by the 
wicked ; but if we could listen to the shouts of the re- 
deemed that come up from the other shore, as John did, 
we doubtless would change our minds in regard thereto. 
John says he heard a great multitude of the redeemed 
saying with a loud voice : " Hallelujah ; Salvation, and 
glory, and power, belong unto our God; for true and 



176 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



righteous are his judgments : because he has condemned 
the great harlot, who did corrupt the* earth with her 
fornication, and has avenged the blood of his servants 
at her hands. And again they said, Alleluia. And 
her smoke arose up for ever and ever. . . . And I 
heard the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of 
many waters, and as the roar of mighty thunder, say- 
ing, Alleluia : for the Lord God omnipotent reigns " 
(Rev. xix. 1-6). Doubtless these are all prepared to 
say, also, that " these light afflictions, which are but 
for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory." And doubtless these afflicted 
persons could all join in the sentiment expressed by 
our Lord : " Ought not the Christ [and we] to suffer 
these things, and enter into his [and we into our] 
glory?" 

The desert state into which the woman of Revela- 
tion xii. entered was evidently under the protection of 
the civil rulers, who now had become Christian by pro- 
fession, and protected from the onslaughts of the pagan 
world. It was therefore right, and is right yet, that 
the civil governments should protect the Christians in 
their lives and in the worship of almighty Gocl; but 
when those civil rulers assumed to dictate to the church 
as to what its faith and practice should be, it was all 
wrong, as was the case with all the emperors of Rome 
and Constantinople after and during the days of Con- 
stantine the Great. And it is a lamentable fact that all 
the great councils of the church, from the first Council 
of Nice down to 1453, were manipulated more or less 
by the will of the emperors or empresses who ruled in 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



177 



Rome and Constantinople. The church councils 
seemed to be very pliant in their hands, and ruled in 
and out the worship of relics and images according to 
the will of the ruling power; and it is recorded of the 
first Council of Nice that the contending bishops looked 
'more to the will of the emperor Constantino (who 
■was there- present) than they did to the Scriptures that 
lay upon their altar — even accepted the emperor's sug- 
gestion that the Son of God should be declared eonsub- 
stantial with the Father. Just think of it, beginning 
[with Constantine, and on down through his successors, 
both in Rome and Constantinople, till the year 1453. 
hardly an emperor (and their name is legion) ascended 
the throne of the Csesars but with blood and murder of 
the foulest kind. Think of these wretches dictating 
to the church as to what its faith and morals should be. 
That many of them were professed Christians makes 
the contrast the more revolting. 

However trivial this circumstance may be consid- 
ered by some, it became direful in its effects as a prece- 
dent to the church in after times, as it opened the flood- 
gates to introduce into the church of God the traditions 
of men and worldly wisdom, which in the end has sup- 
planted the word, commandments and wisdom of God. 
Take the Westminster Assembly that formulated the 
Westminster Confession of Faith, and I would ask, By 
what divine authority did it assemble and grind out that 
Confession of Faith ? If its doctrines were according 
to Scripture, or contained in the Scripture, why not 
adopt the Scripture as their confession of faith; but if 
it contained more than the Scripture, that addition is 



178 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



at once superfluous and unnecessary. If the Scrip- 
ture given by inspiration of God is able to make one 
wise unto salvation, and thoroughly furnished unto all 
good works, surely nothing more is needed. 

But, again, if that Assembly had the right to enact 
and formulate a Confession of Faith beyond what is 
contained in Scripture, then other religious bodies dif- 
fering from it should have the same right. It is a divine 
principle in our religion that if we wish others to ac- 
cord to us the right to formulate our creed, then others 
have the right to demand the same of us ; for the Master 
said, " Whatsoever you would that men should do unto 
you, do the same unto them." This rule, then, as all 
can see, will establish every creed in Christendom. If. 
therefore, we once enter upon the forbidden ground of 
making creeds and confessions of faith for ourselves 
other than the inspired word of God, then there will be 
no end to them ; and, as we all can see, it will lead on to 
endless confusion, trouble and alienation among the 
people of God, as it is to-day. 

This state of things not only has its direful effect 
within the church, but it has its baneful influence on 
those without, in that it tends to confuse their minds 
and leave them in doubt and uncertainty in regard to 
what they ought to believe and do. The better way, 
then, would be to do as the people of God in olden time 
did. They said : " Because of all this we make a 
sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites 
and priests seal it. And the rest of the people . . . 
all that separated themselves from the people of the 
land unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and 



KEVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



178 



their daughters, every one who had knowledge and un- 
derstanding, . . . entered into an oath, that they 
would walk in God's law, which was given by Moses 
the servant of God, and to observe and do all the com- 
mandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments 
and statutes" (Neh. ix. 38; x. 28, 29). 

There is not a vestige of mere human opinion in all 
this, but a covenant or agreement to return to the in- 
spired word of God. They, like us of to-day, had gone 
astray and adopted the customs of the heathen about 
them ; had married strange wives, that led them astray, 
contrary to the will of God. Just so we have adopted 
strange creeds and confessions of faith, that lead us 
astray from the spirit of our Lord, who prayed that his 
followers might all be united, and all speak the same 
things, so the world of mankind might believe his 
Father had sent him. 

In Eevelation xvii. 17, where the averment is made 
that "God has put into their hearts [of these ten kings, 
or kingdoms] to do his will, to agree, and give their 
kingdom unto the beast, till the words of God are ful- 
filled," we have indicated without doubt that it was 
God's will that the popes should not only exercise ec- 
clesiastical rule in those kingdoms, but also have the 
civil oversight thereof for a brief space of time. This 
would lead on to the conclusion that this exercise of 
power under the circumstances was admirable in the 
sight of God, if properly used. To appreciate this, we 
have only to imagine what a power for good the pope? 
would have been had they been content with the gospel 
of peace, and an advisory power over the civil rulers. 



180 



THE W01SDERS OF THE 



But, instead of this, they have stretched their power 
beyond both reason and revelation. Instead of the 
humility of Christ, they have adopted the fiery zeal of 
J osiah, king of Judah, having forgotten, or never known, 
that " the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, 
bnt to save them." They have not only drawn the 
sword in defense of Christianity contrary to the teach- 
ing of Jesus, but they have gone beyond and used the 
sword to enforce Christianity, reversing the " whoso- 
ever will " to " you shall " ; or, you shall feel the 
sword. 

These views, I know, will be questioned by some 
who think that it was the will of God that the popes 
should rule, not as they did rule, but as they ought to 
have ruled. To appreciate this, we have only to imag- 
ine what would have been the condition of the church 
during this dark period — before the art of printing was 
discovered, and when not one out of a hundred had the 
Scriptures — had there been no acknowledged head or 
authority. In this formative period of the kingdoms 
and society of Europe, would not the condition of things 
in the church have been chaos indeed — utter confusion % 
As it was, the popes used all their restraining power 
(not excepting the sword) to suppress the innovations 
that were continually rising in the church. Had they 
exercised one-half the zeal to have thrust out the inno- 
vations that had already crept into the church, their 
conduct would have been far more commendable. 

But when the Scriptures were printed and circu- 
lated among the people, so that all could learn the way 
of the Lord, if they wanted to do so; and when the 



BEVELATION OF JESUS CHSIST. 



181 



church produced such champions for the sufficiency of 
God's word as Martin Luther and his compatriots — 
there was no longer any necessity for the pope or his 
Catholic unity. The words of God concerning his 
sway had been fulfilled, and a more excellent way had 
come to the front. And that same God who had once 
put it into the hearts of these ten kingdoms to give their 
power and strength unto the beast, now that it had out- 
lived its usefulness, put it into the hearts of these ten 
kingdoms to shake it off and destroy it unto the end. 
Doubtless the crowning sin in Borne was the declaring 
infallible that mass of corruption that fills the chair of 
St. Peter at Rome, who opposes and exalts itself above 
all that is called God, or that is worshiped as such. 
This infallible dogma serves as a background to con- 
trast its pretensions with its true fallibility, and since 
then has hastened its downfall. 

Under the inevitable trend of cause and effect, and 
the verification of the true proverb that " birds of a 
feather flock together " — being base yourselves, you have 
been followed by all the baser elements of society, un- 
til the truth is, you have fallen from heaven, and be-, 
come a habitation of demons, and a hold of every un- 
clean and hateful bird of humanity. By your practice 
of unrighteous deception, you have inveigled into the 
meshes of your net all who would not receive the truth, 
that they might be saved. This deception culminated 
in a very dark cloud, till Martin Luther tore it asun- 
der and admitted some of the rays of the Sun of right- 
eousness to penetrate the mist. Since then the force 
of truth has gradually, but surely, been drawing the 



182 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



winding-sheet around your putrid carcass till now but 
little remains to be entombed but the foul mass of igno- 
rance you have created and ruled over. Were Paul 
to stray to-day into one of your cathedrals in Rome, as 
he did in Athens, his spirit would be stirred within him 
when he beheld your church wholly given up to idola- 
try ; and he would doubtless exclaim, as he did there on 
Mars hill: " The God whom you ignorantly worship, I 
declare unto you/' 

We learn another thing from these chapters of Rev- 
elation; that is, that the beast of chapter xiii. 1-11, 
with the assistance of the dragon, made itself what it 
has proved to be. Likewise, the second beast of chap- 
ter xiii. made its own character, and made the image 
of the first beast and enforced its adoration. And the 
same is true of the lewd woman of chapter xvii., just 
as much as that the scribes and Pharisees of Christ's 
time made themselves what they were. 

What, then, shall the children of God do under their 
rule ? Evidently what the Lord enjoined upon his fol- 
lowers in regard to the scribes and Pharisees. " They 
[said the Lord] sit in Moses' seat: what, therefore, 
they bid you [as learned from Moses, of course], that 
observe and do ; but do not as they do, for they say, 
but do not." That is, whatsoever the Church of Rome 
commands, that is right and the gospel; that observe 
and do ; but do not after their traditions and abomina- 
tions. This develops the fact that truth is eternal and 
of God, and should be received, no matter whence it 
comes or who utters it. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 



THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB. 
Revelation xix. 

I now return to the consideration of Revelation 
xix., though the first four verses belong to the funeral 
oration of chapter xviii., of which it is the requiem or 
final dirge, and should never have been separated there- 
from by the break of chapters. 

Verses 5 to 7 are a prefatory rejoicing over the 
event that was next to follow the final destruction of this 
lewd woman ; which is " the marriage supper of the 
Lamb/' On great occasions like this it is usual to clean 
up the trash that has, in the lapse of time, accumulated 
around the premises, that everything may present a tidy 
appearance. " Gather the tares out first " (Matt. xiii. 
30). This seventh verse, however, only contains the 
announcement that everything is ready; while the 
eighth verse gives us an idea of her adornments, and a 
very significant idea, too. To her was granted that 
she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: 
the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Then 
the righteousness of the Lord's people when he comes 
is the garment of his bride. If you and I, my brother, 
have no righteousness to bring forward at that time, 
we can not adorn that wedding. 

" Write this, John, Blessed are they that are called 
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. These are the 
true sayings of God." Blessed — why ? Because they 
are righteous. 

1$3 



184 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



The bridegroom next appears in verse 11, upon a 
white horse, but he has a last battle yet to fight before 
the nuptials can be celebrated. His appearance and 
his armor, as he goes forth to this last battle, are graph- 
ically described by John as follows : " His eyes are 
as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns." 
That is, up to this time he had come off conqueror in 
all he had ever undertaken. "He is now clothed in a 
vesture dipped in blood: and his name is The Word of 
God. And the armies of heaven followed him upon 
white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean and white. 
And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that 
with it he should smite the nations : and he shall rule 
them with a rod of iron : and he treads the winepress 
of the fierceness of the wrath of almighty God. And 
he has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, 
King of kings, and Loed of lords." 

This is his appearance, and that of his army and 
their weapons. The seventeenth and eighteenth verses 
contain a prophetic forecast of what the result is to 
be, while verse 19 gives us a short outline of the foes 
he has to contend with in the final struggle. He says : 
" I saw the beast [the beast of chapter xiii.], and the 
kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together 
to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and 
against his army." This is unquestionably the same 
thing as is referred to in chapter xvi. 13-15 : " . . . 
which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to 
gather them together unto the war of the great day of 
God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief," etc. "And 
the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet 



KEVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



185 



that wrought signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived 
them that had received the mark of the beast [of chap- 
ter xiii.], and them that worshiped his image [the image 
of chapter xiii.]. And they twain were cast alive into 
the lake of fire that burned with brimstone. And the 
rest were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the 
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth : and all 
the fowls were filled with their flesh " (Kev. xix. 19- 
21. " The sword that proceedeth out of his mouth/' 
Some gather the idea that this sword used by our Lord 
to destroy the beast and his followers is merely the word 
of the Lord, the gospel, etc. But the sword here re- 
ferred to, while it is the word or commands of the Lord, 
is not (as I see it) the gospel, but is like in power to 
Matt. xxv. 41 : "Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." 
That is, when the Lord says to the beast, Step down 
a.kd out of my kingdom, the irresistible force and 
power of his command must and will be obeyed, just as 
the demon spirits obeyed him when he cast them out in 
his personal ministry. 

It certainly ought to be easy for the reader to see 
that this quotation gives the final destruction and doom 
of the beast of chapter xiii. While chapter xiii. details 
his rise and work, his pretensions and appearance, the 
great power he exerts in the earth and over the nations, 
and his determination to be adored or worshiped, yet 
in that place there is no hint of his final overthrow. 
It is reserved for this passage (xix. 19-21) to give his 
final doom. From this onward we meet with the beast 
and his worshipers no more. 



186 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



It is true that in chapter xiv. 9-11 we have an inci- 
dental introduction to the final doom of the beast, but in 
this place it is given as a warning to God's people to 
not worship the beast or his image. The beast unques- 
tionably refers to the civil powers that carry the church 
onward to ruin, while the little fellow with two horns, 
meaning the ecclesiastical powers of the church, is 
merged into the lewd woman of chapter xvii., which 
meets its doom under the funeral obsequies of this wom- 
an, and after chapter xix. 1-4 disappears from view. 
This enables us to determine very accurately that all 
that follows the thirteenth chapter to the close of the 
nineteenth is principally concerned about the great 
apostasy, its work and doom. 

The first vial of wrath that was poured out, in chap- 
ter xvi. 2, affects the men who worshiped the beast and 
his image, taking the image of the beast to mean the 
pope's civil power and the beast to be the ecclesiasticism 
chat supports the pope. Then, from the fact that this 
rial affected those men who worshiped these beasts, I 
3onclude that it affected the image of the beast, his 
nvil power, and the beast also, the effect being that of 
' a noisome and grievous sore!' perhaps fulfilled from 
and after 1870, when the pope lost his civil power and 
the image of the beast was dethroned. 

The second vial means a great naval conflict, per- 
haps now near at hand. (Verse 3.) 

The third means a great land struggle and slaughter 
among the nations. (Verses 4-7.) 

The fourth means the fire of impending wrath, and 
the fearful time men have in settling up civil rule 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



187 



after the two preceding and fearful struggles. (Verses 
8, 9.) 

The fifth affects the throne of the pope and his king- 
dom and subjects, who are thereby thrown into great 
agony, which, however, fails to bring repentance. 
(Verses 10, 11.) 

The sixth means the overthrow of xhe Mahometan 
Empire, and the last struggle on the part of Mahome- 
tanism, Catholicism and heathendom, with the appear- 
ance of the Son of God to close their career, which is 
more fully set forth in the pouring out of the seventh 
vial (verses 12-21). This is evidently the same great 
struggle of chapters xix.-xxi. It is nearly impossible 
to reform the members of the Catholic faith. The 
chains of their superstitious slavery are so effectually 
forged around them that their reformation is impossi- 
ble. Hence their destruction is inevitable; and the 
same is true of Ismailism. 

All these things end just as we approach the scenes 
of chapter xx., which brings us to the marriage of the 
Lamb. The works of the devil, which he has been car- 
rying on in the world and especially in the dragon, the 
beast and the false prophet, here all come to an end, 
and chapter xx. shows that. Satan is now to be bound 
for a thousand years; his wiles and deceptions of the 
nations here close for that space of time. So it is that 
we now, in the history of the world, are to have peace 
and happiness for a thousand years — the Sabbath rest 
God has been all the time promising his people. This 
is the time when the kingdom of the world is to be the 
Lord's in its fullest sense. 



188 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



Then will be realized (as I understand it) Isaiah ii. 
1-4 ; Micah iv. 1-7 ; Daniel vii. 13, 14, 27 ; Bevelation 
xi. 15, and the time of the new heavens and new earth 
of Isaiah lxv. 17 and II. Peter iii. 13. But as I have 
more fully discussed these things in a previous chapter, 
when I treated upon chapter xi. 15/ I will omit any- 
further mention of them here, save only to say that this 
is the time of the resurrection of the righteous when the 
Lord comes, as stated by Paul in I. Corinthians xv. 23. 
Likewise the rest that remains to the people of God, 
into which we are exhorted to strive to enter (Heb. iv. 
8-11). And the kingdom of God that was to be near at 
hand (Luke xxi. 31). And the time for God to re- 
store those things he had promised to restore by all his 
prophets since the world began, when the Lord comes 
again (Acts iii. 20, 21). And the time of the regen- 
eration (Matt. xix. 28). John says of this time and 
these scenes : " I saw thrones, and they who sat there- 
on ; and judgment was given unto them. And I saw 
the souls of them who had been beheaded for the tes- 
timony of J esus, and for the word of God, and such as 
worshiped not the beast, nor his image, neither had re- 
3eived his mark in his head or in his hand ; and they 
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. This 
is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who 
has part in this first resurrection : on these the second 
death has no power, but they shall be priests 
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with 
him a thousand years. But the rest of the dead 
lived not again till the thousand years were finished " 
(verses 4-6). 



KEVELATION OF JESUS CHKIST. 



189 



It is ridiculously amusing to see how the different 
expositors manipulate this passage. One will say that 
it is symbolical, and does not mean what it says. An- 
other says that verse 4 means literally what it says, 
except the words " beast," " image " and " mark," 
which are symbols. That those witnesses of Jesus are 
sitting on thrones as judges who refused to bow to the 
beast, or his image, or wear his mark ; do actually live 
and reign with Christ a thousand years. This writer 
claims that the word " souls " means souls, or spirits, 
not bodies, but that the word " resurrection " in the 
fifth and sixth verses does not mean resurrection, but 
some kind of life different from what they had before 
this time — a life analogous to that of Elijah as it ap- 
peared in John the Baptist, which was simply the 
spirit and power of Elijah ; and these perhaps millions 
of martyrs in spirit are to reappear in the Christians 
of the millennial age — a sort of transmigration of 
souls. What need there is for such things in 
the millennial age, more than in other ages, he 
does not inform us, nor does he givti us any 
Scripture to support his chimera. This vague 
and ridiculous doctrine, it seems to me, rests 
upon the same foundation as the Catholic doctrine of 
purgatory. 

In justice to the author of the above vagaries, whose 
name I suppress, I wish to say that his book is a very 
readable book, and that his views are sometimes cor- 
rect, and are brought out with great force; but in 
Revelation xx. 4-8 he has partly lost his head. I quote 
a short paragraph from his work — where he treats of 



190 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



the glories of the millennial period — which I heartily 
endorse. He says: 

" Who would not want to lire when this happy 
period shall come? It was no idle dream when the 
poets and longing ones of the nation sang of a bliss- 
ful period in the future ages, when the sorrows of earth 
should give place to joy. The prophets of God have stood 
upon the mount of vision and painted in vivid strains 
their views [rather, God's views] of the glorious coming 
day when the sword shall be beaten into the plowshare, 
and the spear into the pruning-hook, and men shall learn 
the arts of war no more. Then none shall hurt or de- 
stroy in all the holy mountain of the Lord: the lion 
and the lamb shall lie down together. Then shall the 
tie of universal brotherhood and Christlike love bind 
the races of earth together. Then shall the constitu- 
tion of the human family be the golden rule of Christ, 
i Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' 
Then shall no fear of our race, or our neighbors, their 
evil words or deeds, or unholy ambition, fill our lives 
with unrest and care. Then Christ shall reign. He 
shall be King of kings and Lord of lords. There will 
be no despots to bind on men the chains of slavery. 
There will be no popes to usurp his power ; no councils 
to stand between him and his people ; no traditions of 
men, or ecclesiastical creeds, to take the place of the 
word of God; no sects or priests to estrange the chil- 
dren of our Father ; but universal loyalty to the King 
divine, and his holy word, shall prevail. Earth shall 
again behold the primitive happiness of our race." All 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



191 



the same as though sin had never entered into the 
world ! ! 

Another writer on Revelation, covering 370 pages, 
plays havoc with this twentieth chapter. He says 
there will be no resurrection here except of truth ; that 
the truth of the gospel, or of the Bible, is the chain that 
is to bind the devil for the thousand years, etc. He 
does not stop to tell us why this chain has not bound 
him in the past eighteen hundred years; but he does 
try to tell us how it is to be effectual in this millennial 
period. He has made the discovery that " angels are 
to sit on these thrones and teach the people correctly 
what the Scriptures mean," etc. He does not tell us 
why God had not made this discovery eighteen hundred 
years ago, so we could have had peace and happiness in 
the earth ever since the first Pentecost. Nor does he 
explain Paul when he says : " Though we, or an 
angel from heaven, preach unto you any other gospel 
than that we have preached, let him be accursed/' Nor 
does he explain why this gospel that Paul preached, 
which we have had, lo ! these eighteen hundred years, 
should not be as effectual to bring peace and happi- 
ness to the earth when preached by men as when 
preached by angels from heaven. Then, again, if the 
preaching by angels is the more effectual way of 
spreading the gospel, why was it not thought of sooner ? 

He has made another discovery; that is, that the 
vengeance that the dead souls " under the altar " 
(Rev. vi. 9) called for was simply that truth might 
prevail over error, and that this is to occur in this 
millennial period. He says : " The thousand years 



192 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



of the triumph of truth over error is the first resurrec- 
tion " (" Golden Keed," p. 336). "And the loosing 
of Satan for a little period is the second resurrection " 
(Ibid). 

For the sake of a smile at the ridiculous, here is 
another batch from the same page : " The armies of 
heaven — they who sat upon white horses — were victori- 
ous, and tooh the beast and false prophet alive while 
they were fighting; and they were cast into the lake 
alive; and there was fire burning with brimstone in 
that lake; and now the same kind of fire comes down 
from God out of heaven, and devours them. The same 
kind of fire is spoken of here that the angel took off the 
altar and put into the golden censer; and the same kind 
of fire that Jesus said he came to send upon the earth. 
The word of God is the fire, and it refines, purifies and 
purges out the dross." The reader will think I am 
here quoting from some Universalist author ; but I am 
not — I am quoting from Eld. W. Wright, an orthodox 
Baptist preacher and pastor of the Liberty Church, 
Wells County, Ind., and from a volume published by 
the Sentinel Printing Company, Fort Wayne, Ind., 
1876. If any of my readers want to get into the mist 
and fog that is akin to the darkness in Egypt — " that 
might be felt with the hand " — this is the book you 
need!! 

In another work of more merit now before me, the 
author admits the resurrection all right, but he says: 
" None but the martyrs will be raised at this time." 
By " martyrs " the author here means those who were 
slain " for bearing testimony to the gospel " ; but this 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 193 

j 

exclusiveness is not learned from the text. It says, in 
addition to those who had been beheaded for the testi- 
mony of Jesus and for the word of God — " such as 
worshiped not the beast, nor his image, and had not 
received the mark of the beast in their head or hand; 
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
years." Surely this includes all the faithful in Christ, 
as well as they who were beheaded. 

This agrees with Paul: "They that are Christ's at 
his coming" (I. Cor. xv. 23); also, "We would not 
have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are 
asleep; that you sorrow not, as others who have no 
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
again, even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God 
bring with him. For this we say unto you by the 
word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left 
unto the coming of the Lord, shall in nowise precede 
those who are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the 
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we that are alive, 
that are left, shall together with them be caught up in 
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we 
ever be with the Lord" (I. Thess. iv. 13-17). JSTow, 
I would like to know if this is not the resurrection of 
Revelation xx. 4-6. If not, why not? Certainly the 
apostle includes himself as an expected participant in 
the resurrection when the Lord comes, and certainly 
his remarks in I. Corinthians xv. 23 will not allow us 
to conclude that there was any resurrection between 
the resurrection of the Lord and his second coming. 



194 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



And we know from I. Thessalonians iv., as quoted 
above, that Paul here is telling us about the resurrec- 
tion at His second coming. And there is no question 
but that all the Lord's people are here resurrected. 
Hence I conclude that this is the time of the resurrection 
of the righteous of Revelation xx. 4-8, and also the 
second coming of our Lord. 

I know, from a host of references to the second ad- 
vent, that there will be fearful destruction of the 
wicked when the Lord comes. All the Lord's parables 
that have reference to his second coming show this. In 
the parable of the tares in the field, the tares are to be 
gathered out and burned up. In the parable of the 
nobleman who went into a far country to receive a 
kingdom, we are told that when he returned he ordered 
that those who would not that he should reign over 
them should be brought and slain before him. Like- 
wise the sweep-net when " drawn ashore : they sat 
down and gathered the good into vessels, and cast the 
bad away." "As it was in the days of Noah . . . they 
knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; 
so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man." See, 
also, Eevelation vi. 15-17 ; xi. 18 ; xiv. 14-20, and chap- 
ters xvi., xviii. and xix., entire. All these references 
point to a fearful destruction in the flesh, but none of 
them gives the scene of Revelation xx. 11-15, which is 
certainly the wind-up of the race, and the general 
judgment. 

Another thing: all these references in Revelation 
concerning the second coming of the Son of God point 
clearly to the fact that the present order of things con- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



195 



tinues till the Lord does come. In Revelation vi. 12- 
17, we have the Lamb sitting upon his glorious throne, 
and thereat there arises a general consternation 
throughout the world because the great day of his wrath 
has come. And in these scenes we have the kings of 
the earth; the princes, chief captains, rich men, and 
strong men, bond men and free men, all trembling at 
their impending ruin. A class of persons and a con- 
dition of things that no one believes can exist in the 
millennial period. More than this, we still have the 
beast (that is, the apostasy) and kings in verse 19 of 
the nineteenth chapter, where we have the Lord of 
lords and King of kings in the panorama fighting his 
last battle, and evidently the same that is impending 
in chapter vi. 15-17, and referred to in II. Thessalo- 
nians ii. 8. 

In chapter xx., where Satan is stirring up his last 
rebellion, it is said : " He deceives the nations but 
not a word is said about kings, princes, chief captains, 
or rich men, and evidently for the reason that this mil- - 
lennial period does not beget or foster those titled aris- 
tocrats. Then, again, it is said of those people in 
chapter vi. 15, 16, that " they hid themselves in the 
caves and rocks of the mountains, to escape the wrath 
of the Lamb." But, in chapter xx. 9, " fire comes 
down out of heaven and devours them;" there is no 
time to hide in the caves and mountains. Eor could 
there be any evidence of their impending ruin till the 
fire was raining upon them. Hence I conclude that 
Revelation vi. 15-27 and Revelation xx. 7-9 describe two 
very different scenes and a thousand years apart in time. 



196 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



Again, as to the sounding of the seventh trumpet: 
Revelation xi. 18 — especially the last clause, " destroy 
them that destroy [or lav waste] the earth " — gives a 
very different reason for their destruction than that of 
Revelation xx. ; for here it is because ee they encom- 
pass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city " ; not 
because they are destroying the earth. And here at 
the sounding of this seventh trumpet is evidently the 
second coming of the Son of God, because here the king- 
dom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord 
(verse 15). !N"ow, and prior to Revelation xi. 15, and 
since the clay of Pentecost, his kingdom has been con- 
fined to his people, but from Revelation xi. 15, and on 
through the millennial reign, all humanity must come 
within his kingdom. He reigns over them in this mil- 
lennial period in a much broader and more extended 
sense than from Pentecost till now. - 

Again, in Revelation xiv. 14, the Son of man ap- 
pears, sickle in hand, to reap the earth. Jesus says: 
"At the harvest at the end of the eon [age], I will say 
unto the reapers, Gather out the tares, and burn them. 
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the 
kingdom of their Father " (Matt. xiii. 41-43). Hence 
Matthew here and Revelation xiv. 14-20 are parallel, 
and therefore both indicate the second coming of the 
Lord, and the destruction of the wicked from off the 
earth when he does come ; but in Matthew the kingdom 
continues on, while from this on to Revelation xx. 7, 
the righteous inherit it. "Then shall the righteous 
shine forth in the kingdom of their Father." It is 
noteworthy here that the state of the righteous in Reve- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



197 



lation xxi. and xxii. is not called a kingdom. This 
declaration of Matthew (xxiii. 41-43) pertains to our 
present earth, and must mean during the millennial 
period. 

Hence all these testimonies converge to the point 
that Christ must come at the beginning of the millen- 
nium. Then, as we see that these righteous dead will 
be resurrected, and reign with their Lord for a thou- 
sand years, the only question to settle here is, Where 
will that reign be? I answer unhesitatingly, upon the 
earth. Proof — Revelation v. 10, last clause : " We 
shall reign upon the earth" (Common Version). I 
know the Revised Version varies the tense and the 
speakers, but it leaves the fact that " the righteous are 
to reign upon the earth " intact. Why the revisers 
changed the speakers from the first person plural to the 
third, I can not imagine, as hemas of verse 10 is un- 
doubtedly first person plural. But, be this as it may, 
the righteous reign upon the earth. And Jesus said: 
" That where I am, there you may be also." And 
Paul: "So shall we ever he with the Lord" When 
we put these things together, we have this reigning of 
the saints with the Lord here on earth; which can not 
begin till the Lord comes at the beginning of the mil- 
lennial period, at and following the first resurrection 
of Revelation xx. 4-6. 

Having definitely settled the fact, as I believe, from 
the unalterable truth of God, that Christ is to reign 
upon the earth during that millennial period, in which 
all kingdoms, tongues, nations and peoples are to serve 
and obey him, I would like to ask my fellow Christians 



198 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



if they would not like to live and reign with our Lord 
in this glorious period when the Lord reigns and, the 
nations learn war no more. When " every man &hall 
sit under his own vine and fig tree; and none shall 
make them afraid. ... In that day, says the Lord, I 
will assemble her that halteth [or hesitates], and 
I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have 
afflicted ; and I will make of her that hesitates and was 
cast far away a strong nation : and the Lord shall reign 
over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for- 
ever " (Micah iv. 3-7). " There shall come people, the 
inhabitants of many cities : and the inhabitants of one 
city shall go to them of another city, saying, Let us go 
speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord 
of hosts: I will also go. Yes, many people and strong 
nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jeru- 
salem, and to pray before the Lord. In those days ten 
men out of all nations shall take hold of the skirt of 
him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you : for we 
have heard that God is with you" (Zech. viii. 20-23). 

The third chapter of Joel undoubtedly deals with 
things just prior to and in the millennium. In 
chapter ii. 28 begins that famous passage quoted by 
Peter on Pentecost, and applied by him to that time, 
except verses 30 and 31, which certainly pertained to 
some subsequent period. The third chapter thus 
reads : " Behold, in those days, and at that time, when 
I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jeru- 
salem, I will gather all nations, and bring them down 
into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will plead with 
them there for my people and my heritage Israel, whom 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



199 



they have scattered among the nations, and parted my 
lands. Yea, they have cast lots for my people; and 
given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that 
they might drink. . . . You have taken my silver and 
my gold, and yon have carried them into your temples. 
. . . You have sold the children of Judah and Jeru- 
salem unto the Greeks, that you might remove them 
far from their border. But I will raise them out of 
their place whither you have sold them. . . . Proclaim 
this among the Gentiles; Prepare for war, wake up 
your mighty men, let all men of war draw near; and 
let them beat their plowshares into swords, and their 
pruning-hooks into spears : let the weak say he is strong. 
Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen; 
gather yourselves together around about: cause your 
mighty ones to come down. O Lord, let the heathen 
be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat : 
for there I will sit to judge the heathen round about. 
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come down; 
for the press is full, the vats overflow; because their 
wickedness . is great. Multitudes upon multitudes in 
the valley of judgment : for the day of the Lord is near 
at the valley of judgment. The sun and moon shall be 
darkened, and the stars shall refuse to shine. And the 
Lord shall cry out in Zion, and utter his voice from 
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: 
but the Lord will spare his people, and strengthen the 
children of Israel. Then shall you know that I am the 
Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: 
then shall Jerusalem be holy: strangers shall not pass 
through her any more." (Those " strangers " are evi- 



200 



THE WONDEBS OF THE 



dently persons who do not know the Lord.) " In that 
day the mountains shall produce new wine, and the 
hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah 
shall flow with water, and a fountain shall come forth 
out of the house of the Lord, and water the valley of 
Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Esau shall 
be a desolate wilderness; because of their violence 
against the children of Judah, for they have shed inno- 
cent blood in the land." (This Edom, or Esau, may, 
and I think does, mean Islamism, or Mahometanism. ) 
" But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from 
generation to generation. Eor I will cleanse their blood 
that I have not heretofore cleansed : because the Lord 
dwells in Zion." 

Joel is evidently here prophetically announcing 
things in the future of A. D. 7 0, for this is surely the 
time the heathen sold the children of Judah and Jeru- 
salem to the Greeks. And to my mind the rousing up 
of the Gentiles in verses 9-12, to a great battle in the 
valley of Jehoshaphat, is the same gathering described 
by Ezekiel in chapters xxxviii. and xxxix., where all 
the heathen around about are located so as to include 
Eussia and the Mahometan Empire ; in other words, 
it is the time when Islam is to be overthrown, as indi- 
cated in verse 19 as having been fulfilled. Egypt and 
Esau (which is Edom), now in possession of Palestine, 
will be ousted, because they have shed innocent blood 
in the land, and plenty of it, too. Eut verses 17, 18 
and 20 open to our view the glories of the millennium. 

Amos also describes the same glorious period. 
James quotes Amos ix. 11, 12 in Acts xv. 16, 17, and 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



201 



applies it to the call of the Gentiles in his own day 
and for the future of his time. James here quotes the 
Septuagint. The prophet just above, in verses 9 and 
10, says God " will sift the house of Israel among all 
nations, like grain is sifted in a sieve. And all the 
sinners of his people who say this evil shall not over- 
take them, shall die by the sword." In verses 13-15 
the Septuagint reads : " Behold, the days come, says 
the Lord, when the harvest shall overtake the vintage, 
and the grapes shall ripen at seedtime ; and the moun- 
tains shall drop SAveet wine, and the hills shall be 
planted. And I will turn the captivity of my people 
Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities, and shall 
inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink 
the wine from them ; and they shall form gardens, 
and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them on 
their land, and they shall not be plucked up from 
the land I have given them, saith the Lord God the 
Almighty." 

I know there is a strong disposition among some 
interpreters to turn these statements about the restora- 
tion of the Jews to mean spiritual Israel — that is, 
Christians — but I do not so read God's word. I think 
that in interpreting God's word, where there is no evi- 
dence of the prophet using symbols, it should be under- 
stood literally, except in the case of figurative lan- 
guage, the literal significance of which can be easily 
understood. The appropriateness of these prophecies 
concerning the restoration of Israel is found in the 
fact that their restoration must come before the millen- 
nium, and. their happy period will come in and last 



202 



THE WONDERS OE THE 



throughout that period. And whatever blessings God 
may have in store for the literal seed of Abraham are 
sure to come to us Gentiles if we are faithful to him, 
but not to us Gentiles in the land of Palestine, because 
God has given that to the literal seed of Abraham ; but 
I am quite sure that the Gentiles will inherit the lands 
of the Gentiles. These prophecies do not certainly in- 
dicate that much, but we must remember that a large 
majority of these predictions were given especially to 
the Jews to encourage them in looking forward to a 
return to Palestine after their long night of dispersion. 
Beyond their turmoils and troubles, that had followed 
them for nearly thirty-five hundred years, they could 
see a time coming when Judea and Jerusalem would 
be safely inhabited, with none to molest or make afraid ; 
a time when Jerusalem should be the joy of the whole 
earth, with the Lord reigning in Zion ; a time when sor- 
row and crying should be no more, but an eternal round 
of pleasure and happiness be enjoyed such as has never 
visited our earth since Adam tasted the forbidden fruit, 
until this millennial period begins. 

But we have some more general prophecies that 
reach to all the world ; as in Daniel vii. 14, where he 
says : " There was given him [the Son of God] do- 
minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, na- 
tions, and languages, should serve him." This, be it 
remembered, was to be given him when he comes in the 
clouds of heaven, as in verse 13. 

There are some others of the same import, but I 
can not pause here to simtmon them all. It is sufficient 
for us to know that this kingdom and the greatness of 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



203 



it under the whole heaven is to be given to the people 
of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an 
everlasting kingdom, where we (who are the saints) 
shall serve and obey him. (See Dan. vii. 27.) 



CHAP TEE XIX. 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
Revelation xx. 

I now return to Revelation xx. — to the close of this 
millennial period. We read that " when the thousand 
years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 
and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the 
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather 
them together to battle : the number of whom is as the 
sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of 
the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints, and 
the beloved city : and fire came down out of heaven, and 
devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was 
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast 
and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented 
day and night for ever and ever 99 (Rev. xx. 7-10). 

We notice here that the beast and the false prophet 
were cast into this lake of fire and brimstone at the be- 
ginning of the millennium, or just before it began, so 
here at the close of the millennium the devil is cast in 
with them. But there is nothing here said about the 
final destiny of this host that went up on the breadth 
of the earth, except that they were devoured by fire; 
we must wait for this until death and hades deliver 
up the dead for their final destiny. 

There is a curious problem for us to solve in the 
scene at the wind-up of this millennium ; that is, Why is 
it, if we have such a glorious period of peace and happi- 

204 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



205 



ness for this thousand years, that at the close of it those 
very people who had been so highly blest should all at 
once rebel against God ? The answer to this must be 
left to conjecture, as the narrative does not directly tell 
us ; we are only told that " the devil deceived them." 
Still, I think we can approximate the reason. The Jews, 
as we have seen, are gathered back into their own land, 
and Jerusalem, as we see by those prophecies, instead 
of becoming the metropolis of J udea, becomes the me- 
tropolis of the world, and all nations shall now unto it. 
It is easy to see from this, and some more direct declara- 
tions, that all nations will pay a voluntary tribute to the 
Jews, and especially to Jerusalem, as the Lord will un- 
doubtedly establish his glorious throne there; in fact, 
Ezekiel says : " The name of the city from that day 
shall be, The Lord is there" (Ezek. xlviii. 35). 

Well, suppose this is all so — and it surely will be — ■ 
then turn Satan loose, and he tells the inhabitants of 
the earth what a hard time of it they have had for lo 
this thousand years, going up yearly to see the Lord at 
Jerusalem, and what an immense sum it has necessarily 
cost them in time and money; that, but for this one 
thing, they could have much greater enjoyment in the 
earth, blessed as it is with peace and plenty in great 
abundance ; that his Satanic majesty will lead them up 
to victory ; that, with this immense host gathered from 
all the earth, victory will be certain. Then they, fool- 
like, will accept the sop as Judas did, or, just like Eve, 
will eat the forbidden fruit; and the tale of Milton's 
" Paradise Lost " is again repeated. Hence there can 
be no propriety in continuing the race of man longer 



206 



THE WOXDEKS OF THE 



upon the earth, so the next thing John sees is a great 
white throne. " From the face of him that sat upon 
it the earth and the heaven fled away; and no place 
was found for them. The dead, small and great, stood 
before the throne ; and books were opened : and another 
book was opened, which is the book of life: and the 
dead were judged out of the things written in the books, 
according to their works. The sea gave up the dead 
which were in it; and death and hades gave up the 
dead which were in them : and they were judged every 
man according to their works. And death and hades 
were cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the 
second death. And if any was not found written in the 
book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire " (Eev. 
xx. 11-15). 

However much there may be in symbol in the pre- 
ceding part of this book, commentators are generally 
agreed that there is not much obscurity here ; that this 
is the great final judgment ; that this is the final resur- 
rection of all the dead that are not included in the first 
resurrection of verses 4-6, and possibly some at the 
resurrection of the Lord. (See Matt, xxvii. 52, 53.) 
John does not tell us who sat upon this great white 
throne, whether it was the Lord Jesus or the great God 
of the universe; but he does tell us twice that every 
man was to be judged according to his work, and in 
connection with this he makes the further statement 
that " whosoever was not found written in the book of 
life was cast into the lake of fire." It is very import- 
ant, then, that our names should be written in that book 
of life, and this can only be done by obedience to the 



) 

REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 207 

gospel, for this is God's power to save them who be- 
lieve it. It is noteworthy, too, that this lake of fire and 
brimstone is called the second death. The sense seems 
to be that the lake is the second death in a correspond- 
ing sense to the death in this world being the first death. 
That is, it is the place of the first death. This lake, 
then, is the place of a second death ; therefore, all the 
deaths and destructions prior to this are only a destruc- 
tion in the flesh ; but here the word " destruction " does 
not occur. Some have gathered the idea that as this is 
the place of " the second death," therefore they are cast 
into this lake, and are burned up and annihilated. This 
school believes that the first death is annihilation for 
awhile, till the resurrection ; that then they are made 
alive by the power of God, and are judged, the wicked 
immediately vanishing out of existence. This faith of 
theirs seems to rest wholly upon the words " second 
death." 

To show how futile this theory is, I will call atten- 
tion to the fact that the beast and false prophet were 
cast into this lake at the beginning of this thousand 
years (chapter xix. 20), and here at the close of this 
thousand years we find Satan cast into this lake where 
the beast and the false prophet are (Eev. xx. 10) — 
not where they had been, but where they then were. 
If, therefore, it has taken a thousand years to annihilate 
the beast and the false prophet, and they are still alive, 
with no intimation that their existence will ever end, 
there can be but little comfort come from this fact to 
support the annihilation theory. Still worse, " If any 
man worship the beast, and his image, or receive his 



208 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



mark in their forehead or their hand, the same shall 
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, where it is pre- 
pared without mixture in the cup of his anger. And he 
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the pres- 
ence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. 
And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and 
ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship 
the beast or his image' 3 ete. 

Of course, when J ohn wrote this book those things 
had not occurred, but it was a prophetic forecast of what 
was to occur, and this from the fourteenth chapter is 
only declarative of what was to be the fate of those who 
worshiped the beast, etc., and this could not well happen 
till the worship of the beast was at an end; but this 
end does not come till we reach chapter xix. 20. Then, it 
is safe to say that those — in the aggregate — of chapter 
xiv. who worshiped the beast constitute what is meant 
by the beast in chapter xix. 19, 20. And if this is so — 
and it certainly is — then they who worship the beast 
were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone at the be- 
ginning of this thousand }^ears, and suffer on in tor- 
ment to the end of that time where we find them 
at the close of the millennium, with no hope of their 
release or extinction. " But hold on," says one, " you 
are fixing up two judgments — one at the beginning of 
the millennium, and one at the end ! !" Well, no, I am 
not fixing the thing up myself; and, more than this, 
it is not man's prerogative to fix such things. God has 
his own way of doing things, and I am only trying to 
determine what that way is, so far as God has revealed 
it to his servant John. 



EEVEEATION" OF JESUS CHEIST. 



209 



But now is it not clearly stated that there is a resur- 
rection unto life to those who are found worthy of it, at 
the beginning of this millennium, and that upon such 
the second death has no power (Kev. xx. 4-6) ? And 
what is this, in their case, but a judgment ? And it is 
just as clearly stated that the beast is cast into the lake 
of fire (chapter xix. 19, 20), and what is this but a 
judgment? But in this last struggle of the wicked 
(chapter xix. 19-21), where the doom of the beast and 
the false prophet are expressly declared, it is further 
stated (inverse 21) that the best were hilled with the 
sivord of him that sat upon the horse. It is not stated 
that these were cast into the lake, but " were killed." 
So I conclude these " rest " hold over to the judgment of 
the great day. 

Is this an isolated case, or are there other Scrip- 
tures that indicate the same thing ? Peter says " the 
time is coming that judgment must begin at the house 
of God ; and if it is to begin at us, what shall the end be 
to them who obey not the gospel of God ?" (I. Pet. 
iv. 17). "A certain nobleman went into a far country 
to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return," etc. 
(Luke xix. 12-27). This indicates that in process of 
time our Lord returns, and calls his servants before 
him and reckons with them, and in this reckoning some 
are found faithful and some are not. The faithful 
servants are rewarded, the unfaithful are condemned; 
but they who never had been his servants — had re- 
jected his reign and rule — were slain. The same 
similitude appears in Matthew xxv. 14-30 ; and in 
verse 30 the unprofitable servant is " cast into outer 



210 



THE WOXDESS OF THE 



darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth." 

But perhaps Matthew xxv. 31-46 is the most direct. 
Here the faithful are rewarded, but the unfaithful are 
rejected, not because they did not believe on him, but 
because they were lacking in ministering to the wants of 
those who were his servants indeed. Those who are 
rejected are ordered to depart into everlasting fire pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels. You will notice, 
too, that they insinuate that they had not been delin- 
quent in duty. 

Luke xiii. 25-28 shows that there are some who 
would like to claim a social acquaintance with the Lord, 
but he refuses to recognize them, and says : " Depart 
from me, all you who work iniquity. There shall be 
weeping and gnashing of teeth," etc. 

Matthew xxv. 1-12 is the parable of the ten virgins, 
part of whom were wise and part were foolish. " They 
that were ready " (verse 10) went in ; analogous to Rev- 
elation xx. 4-6. Afterward the others came and desired 
admittance, but were rejected, as was the beast. (Rev. 
xix. 20.) You will notice that " the beast and the false 
prophet were taken and cast alive into the lake of fire." 
It is hardly probable that those of the beast and the 
prophet who were alive when the Lord came are all 
who were cast into the lake of fire at that time, and 
that the more abominable members of the craft who are 
dead should escape. ~No, never ! This is not the Lord's 
way of doing business. He says : " If any man wor- 
ship the beast, ... he shall be tormented with fire and 
brimstone. . . . And the smoke of their torment as- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



211 



cends up for ever and ever" (Kev. xiv. 9-11). Well, 
then, as these in Revelation xix. 20 were cast alive into 
the lake of fire, they must have been resurrected. The 
reader ought to know that there is a resurrection unto 
life, and also " a resurrection unto damnation " (John 
v. 29). 

The passage referred to (Rev. xx. 4-6) speaks only 
of the righteous dead wiio had suffered for the testimony 
of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had refused 
to do homage to the beast, etc., as having part in the first 
resurrection — as I understand it — when the Lord comes, 
and these are the parties addressed by our Lord in Mat- 
thew xxv. 34, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you;" and are they who "re- 
ceived seed upon the good ground " in Matthew xiii. 
23 ; and "the righteous who shine forth as the sun in 
the kingdom of their Father " (Matt. xiii. 43) ; and the 
good that were " gathered into vessels " (Matt, xiii. 48). 
Also the diligent servants of Luke xix. 16-19, who had 
increased their lord's treasure to ten pounds and five 
pounds ; and also the five wise virgins of Matthew xxv. 
10, who "were ready and went in to the marriage." Are 
not these the ones spoken of in Revelation xx. 4-6, who 
J ohn says " lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
years," when the Lord comes ; and, if so, is it not barely 
possible that the parties whom Jesus designates as the 
accursed, who depart into everlasting fire prepared for 
the devil and his angels (Matt. xxv. 41) ; and " the seed 
which fell upon stony ground and among thorns " 
(Matt. xiii. 20-22) ; and " the bad who were cast away " 
(Matt. xiii. 48 ; and the tares that were " burned in the 



212 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



fire " (Matt. xiii. 40-42) ; and " the unprofitable serv- 
ant that was cast into outer darkness, where there was 
weeping and gnashing of teeth " (Matt, xxv. 30) ; also 
the five foolish virgins of Matthew xxv. 11-13 — are not 
all these resurrected and doomed " to the lake of fire 
burning with brimstone " — as in Revelation xix. 19, 20 
— when the Lord comes ? 

John having disposed of those wicked, as foreshad- 
owed in Revelation xiv. 9-11, who are the tares gath- 
ered out of the kingdom (the church), he next proceeds 
to dispose of those who are resurrected unto life, as in 
Revelation xx. 4-6. And are not " the rest of the 
dead " of verse 5, who " lived not again till the thousand 
years were finished/' the " remnant " of Revelation 
xix. 21, who were slain with the sword of him who " sat 
upon the horse " ? And are they not the "citizens " 
of Luke xix. 14, who hated him, and who sent a mes- 
sage after the lord, saying, " We will not have this man 
reign over us," of whom the Lord will say when he 
comes again, "As for those my enemies, who 
would not that I should reign over them, bring here, and 
slay before me 7 ' (Luke xix. 27) % Is not the Lord's 
command to slay them the sword that proceeds out of 
his mouth ? And are not all included in this who have 
heard the gospel from Pentecost till now, who refuse to 
receive and accept Christ to reign over them ? The 
same are mentioned by Paul in II. Thessalonians i. 8, 
9 : " Who obey not the gospel of our Lord J" esus Christ : 
that shall be punished with an everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his 
power.' 7 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHEIST. 



213 



Christians ought to know that in coming out from 
the world, and in separating themselves from the wicked 
unto the service and obedience of the gospel of God 
and Christ, they have assumed a great responsibility; 
that God then becomes their Father, and the Lord 
Jesus their Elder Brother; that they then become the 
sons of God by adoption, and that it is their duty to 
live as sons to honor and glorify God while they live. 
They should grow in grace and in the knowledge of 
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and be diligent in 
every good word and work, " looking for the fruition 
of that blessed hope, and that glorious appearing of the 
great God and our Saviour." 

While on this question, I remember that Paul says, 
" We know that what the law says, it says to them who 
are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, 
and all the world become guilty before God " (Rom. iii. 
19), and " as many as have sinned without law shall per- 
ish without law : and as many as have sinned in the law 
shall be judged by the law" (Rom. ii. 12). 'Now, the 
above was uttered with reference to the law of Moses, 
but the same principle holds good with reference to the 
law of Christ, for Christ has a law — the law of the 
Spirit of life that makes free from the law of sin and 
death. (Rom. viii. 2.) 

The Lord told the Jews that the words he spoke unto 
them should judge them in the last day. " If after 
they have escaped the pollutions of the world through 
their knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the lat- 
ter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



had been better for them not to have known the way of 
righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn 
from the holy commandment delivered unto them " (II. 
Pet. ii. 20, 21). And again : " It is impossible for those 
who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heav- 
enly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy 
Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God, and 
the powers of the world to come, if they fall away, to 
renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify 
to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an 
open shame" (Acts vi. 4-6). Such a one, though he 
has received blessings from God, by bearing briars and 
thorns " is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose 
end is to be burned " (verse 8). 

And again: " He that despised Moses' lav/ died 
without mercy: ... of how much sorer punish- 
ment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who 
hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath 
counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was 
sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto 
the Spirit of grace ? " 

These Scriptures clearly go to show that it is far 
worse with the apostate Christian than with them who 
never acknowledged God. ^Nothing unreasonable, then, 
that they should share the fate of the beast of Revela- 
tion xix. 19, 20, and the false prophet, who are certainly 
apostate Christians ; nor that others who are not under 
law to Christ should have a respite of a thousand years' 
less punishment, as in Revelation xx. 5. 

I know this is not the commonly received opinion 
in regard to Rev. xx. 4-6. The common opinion is that 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



215 



the class of persons there named are all that are resur- 
rected at this time. This is undoubtedly true as to the 
righteous ; but it is quite probable that the pretended 
servants who have hypocritically taken upon themselves 
the name of Christ, and those who have departed from 
the faith, and have crucified the Son of God afresh 
(see Ileb. vi. 4-8 and chapter x. 26-31), are resurrected 
unto condemnation, and therefore are not named as hav- 
ing any part with the righteous in their resurrection 
unto life, because they do not have any part in that res- 
urrection. 

This is, perhaps, not only true in regard to the facts 
stated, but is true upon principles of justice, as is al- 
ready revealed in God's word. Take Romans iii. 19 as 
an example, that "whatsoever things the law says, 
it says to them who are under the law.' 7 Xow, Christ 
has a law, and all who have voluntarily accepted Christ 
have placed themselves under that law, and if, in defi- 
ance of that law, they have gone and digged in the 
ground and buried their Lord's talent, they may rest 
assured that when the Lord comes he will reckon with 
them and give them their portion with the hypocrites, 
where " there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
(See Matt. xxiv. 51.) 

But we know the law took hold of them who were 
under it, according to the letter of the law. God wrote 
in the law by Moses, concerning the mission of Christ, 
that "whosoever would not hear that Prophet should 
be destroyed from among the people" What people? 
The Jews, of course, to whom the promise was made, 
and the destruction was literally accomplished by Titus 



216 REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

A. D. Y0. Did this denunciation affect the Gentiles 
who were not the direct recipients of that promise? 
Were they destroyed as were the Jews % ~No ; we know 
the Gentiles were not. Then it is not unreasonable to 
conclude that those who have voluntarily placed them- 
selves under the law of Christ, but who revere the beast 
more than Christ, will be regarded as members of the 
beast, who in the aggregate make up the body of the 
beast, which, with other hypocrites, are cast alive into 
the lake of lire when the Lord comes ; while the others, 
who have voluntarily placed themselves under the law 
of Christ, and who have filled the spiritual demands 
of that law, live and reign with Christ a thousand years. 
All those who have not voluntarily placed themselves 
under the law of Christ — have rejected him — are slain 
in the flesh, for this is certainly what the clause, " All 
the fowls were filled with their flesh," means. (See 
Kev. xix. 21.) 

This will suffice for the twentieth chapter of Eeve- 
lation ; so I now pass to the consideration of chapter xxi. 



CHAPTEE XX. 



A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH. 
Revelation xxi. and xxii. 

" I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first 
heaven and earth were passed away ; and there was no 
more sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, 
coming down out of heaven from God, as a bride adorned 
for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the 
heavens saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his 
people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. 
And he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and 
death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourn- 
ing, nor crying, nor pain, any more : because these things 
are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, 
Behold, I make all tilings new. And he said to me, 
Write : for these words are faithful and true " (Rev, 
xxi. 1-5). 

I do not suppose this passage is obscured by symbol, 
because, first, I see no reason why it should be. The 
declaration, u These words are faithful and true," pre- 
clude the possibility of obscurity. I suppose, therefore, 
that " God " means God in this Scripture ; and I sup- 
pose when it says " God will dwell with his people/' that 
it means that ; and I suppose when it says " there shall 
be no more mourning, no more death, pain or sorrow," 
'that it means just that. And therefore when it says 
" there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, with no 

217 



218 



THE "WONDERS OF THE 



sea," I believe that is what it means ; and that " and a 
new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven to 
this new earth/' refers to that house of his Father's 
that contained many mansions, wherein Jesus said he 
was going to prepare a place for his disciples. (John 
xiv. 2.) And " : the Jerusalem which is above" (Gal. 
iv. 26), and "the heavenly Jerusalem and city of the 
living God" (Heb. xii. 22). 

I suppose, too, that these things were written to cheer 
his people while treading the thorny maze of this un- 
friendly world, through temptations and afflictions, per- 
secutions and death; to assure them that, notwith- 
standing all these things, there is a heavenly home, 
bright and fair, for them where the presence of God 
and the Lamb shall bless them forever, and all cause 
of grief and mourning will be ended for ever and ever. 
This happy period is all to be realized in the far distant 
future, and will as surely come as that God lives. 

^N"ext follows an exhortation in precious promise, 
followed by fearful threats, that belongs to us and all 
others from the day John wrote these things till the 
time comes for them to be realized : " I am Alpha [the 
Greek letter a] and Omega [the last letter in the Greek 
alphabet], the beginning and the end. And I will give 
unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of 
life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit all these 
things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and 
followed by fearful threats, that belongs to us and all 
liars, shall have their part in the lake of fire and brim- 
stone: which is the second death." I suppose this means 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



219 



what it says, atid that all intelligent readers can under- 
stand it. God grant that they may heed the heavenly 
counsel, and flee from impending wrath. 

John next enters into a more minnte description of 
the heavenly Jerusalem, the prospective home of the 
children of God : " Come here," said the angel, " and 
I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. ... So 
he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out 
of heaven from God, having the glory of God : and her 
light was like the light of the most precious stone [dia- 
mond], like jasper, clear as crystal; and it had a wall 
great and high, having twelve portals [places of entry] , 
and at these portals were twelve angels ; and the names 
written thereon were the names of the twelve tribes 
of Israel. On the east were three portals; on 
the north, three; on the south, three; and on 
the west, three portals. And the wall of the 
city had twelve foundations, and on them the names 
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked 
with me had a golden reed to measure the city. . . . 
And the city lies foursquare, and the length and breadth 
are equal: and he measured the city with the reed, 
twelve thousand furlongs [fifteen hundred miles]. The 
length, the breadth, and the height are equal." (The 
minutia of the measures of the wall and the description 
of the foundations are omitted as not necessary to my 
subject.) " The streets of the city were of pure gold, 
like a burnished mirror [they had no glass in those 
times]. I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God 
the almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And 
the city has no need of the sun or moon to shine upon 



220 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is 
the lamp thereof. And the nations shall walk in the 
light of it; and the kings of the earth do bring their 
glory into it. And the portals thereof shall not be shnt 
by day (there is no night there). They shall bring the 
glory and honor of the nations into it ; but there 
shall nothing unclean enter into it, or he that works 
abomination or makes a lie; but only those whose 
names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev. 
xxi. 9-27). 

It is very evident from this last remark that the en- 
trance into this city by God's people is in the future, or 
upon the heels of the great judgment day of Revelation 
xx. 11-15. This judgment determines who are written 
in this book of life, and it is at the time of this judg- 
ment that the heavens and the earth which now exist 
will disappear from before the face of Him who there 
sits upon the throne ; and it is after we have a new 
heaven and earth, and no more sea, that the New Jeru- 
salem descends from God out of heaven to this new 
earth. All this, as the imagery would indicate, must 
occur before the people of God enter the holy city. The 
language may be, and doubtless is, somewhat figurative, 
but, as I see it, the meaning is not obscure. The right- 
eous of all nations and of all time, and the righteous 
kings, such as David, Asa, Hezekiah and Josiah, bring 
their glory and honor into it with them, when they 
enter thereinto. Such are not to live and rule in that 
world at that time and bring these things in year by, 
year and month after month as tribute ; by no means. 
God grant that my readers may each and every one 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 221 

of them strive diligently to be worthy to enter this holy 
city and enjoy its pleasures when the time comes. 

There have been some curious calculations about 
the capacity of this holy city. One is based upon the 
supposition that a room sixteen feet square could be as- 
signed to each inhabitant, and then half the city given 
up to streets, and the throne of God and the Lamb, and 
still there would be room enough for ail the inhabitants 
of our earth from creation till now, and for ten thou- 
sand times as many more. I do not wish to speculate 
in this way about the capacity of heaven, but I will say 
that God's ability is without limit, and he will see that 
its capacity is sufficient to contain all the inhabitants of 
this world and other worlds who will make themselves 
worthy of it. 

John, in chapter xxii., describes the river of life 
that flows out from the throne of God and the Lamb, 
on either side of which was the tree of life which bore 
twelve crops of fruit (per year), yielding its fruit every 
month ; and the leaves of the tree were for the health of 
the nations. This passage, I think, is slightly symboli- 
cal, and I suppose means the same kind of a river the 
Lord referred to in John vii. 38 : " He that believes 
on me, as the scripture says [that is, believes what the 
Scripture says about me], out of him shall flow rivers 
of living water." John here adds that Jesus spake this 
" of the Spirit, which they who believed on him should 
receive: because the Spirit was not yet given; because 
Jesus was not yet glorified " (verse 39). 

With this explanation before us, we pass on till 
Jesus was glorified — to the time when they who did 



222 



THE W0NDEBS OF THE 



believe on him received the. Spirit — and locate, if we 
can, the now of that glorions river. There is no ques- 
tion about the Spirit being received on the day of Pen- 
tecost ; and from them who received it there flowed out 
from that Spirit words and a river of instruction of 
which Peter's sermon is a fair example. And, as in 
Revelation xxii. 1, 2, the tree of life was nurtured from 
this stream on each side of it, reaching back into the 
former dispensation and forward throughout the new. 
Jesus said : " He that believes on me, as the scripture 
he said," etc. Where, then, has the Scripture said any- 
thing about this living water ? Isaiah sings : " Ho, 
every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters ; he that 
has no money, let him come and buy," etc. (lv. 1). 
And again he says : , " As the rain and snow descend 
from heaven, . . . and water the earth, and make it 
bring forth : ... so shall my word be that goes forth 
out of my mouth ; it shall not return unto me void, but 
shall accomplish that whereimto I sent it," etc. (lv. 10, 
11). This is evidently that living water of which Jesus 
spoke when at Jacob's well in Samaria (John iv. 14), 
and the water of life (Rev. xxii. 17). This river of 
Revelation xxii. 1, 2, then, evidently is the words of 
life, and this tree of life then in promise and in fact 
(the gospel) bears fruit .every month. " And the leaves 
of the tree were for the healing of the nations." ISTo 
more exact similitude of the perfect adaptability of the 
leaves of the tree of life could be given. It is the leaves 
of the Bible that contain the balm that is to heal the 
nations. If, therefore, the nations are not healed in a 
Bible sense', it is because they will not apply the rem- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



223 



edy. " Whosoever will, letl him take of the wiato of 
life freely." This much for the river of lifa 

John next returns to some further averments about 
the holy city and the condition of things that is to pre- 
vail there if we follow this river to its source. He says : 
" There shall be no more curse : and the throne of God 
and the Lamb shall be therein; and his servants shall 
serve him, and they shall see his face; and his name 
shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night 
there, nor any need of a lamp nor of the light of the 
sun ; for the Lord God shall give them light ; and they 
shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, 
These words are faithful and true" (Rev. xxii. 3-6). 
" And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has 
sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which 
must shortly come to pass. Behold, I come quickly. 
Blessed is he that keeps the words of the prophecy of 
this book " (verses 6, 7). I suppose this is to be literally 
true, and therefore needs no comment from me. 

Revelation xxii. 8, 9. The angel refuses to be Avor- 
shiped. Very unlike the Pope of Rome, when Charles 
IV. of Germany was kept waiting at his door barefooted 
for three days, at the end of which time he was granted 
the gracious privilege of kissing the Pope's great toe, a 
humiliation God never required of any man, and a 
species of adoration beyond that of God himself. 

" And he said unto John, Seal not up the words of 
the prophecy of this book : for the time is at hand when 
he that is unrighteous will remain unrighteous, and he 
that is filthy will remain filthy ; and he that is righteous 
will remain righteous, and he that is holy will remain 



224 



THE "WONDERS OF THE 



holy. Behold, I am coming quickly; and my reward 
is with, me, to render to every man according to his 
works. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and 
the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they 
that wash their robes, that they may have a right to the 
tree of life, and may enter in by the portals into the 
city : for without are dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, mur- 
derers and idolaters, and every one who loves and makes 
a lie" (verses 10-15). I presume this is intelligible 
enough for any one to understand who wants to do so. 
Let the reader remember that w T e are approaching the 
end of the revelations of God to man. The words of 
Jesus in his last earthly hours, as recorded in John's 
Gospel in chajDters xiv. to xvii. inclusive, were solemn, 
affectionate and true. So the last words of man, when 
he feels that death is near, are generally regarded by us 
as true. It is certainly no time for jesting or prevari- 
cation. 

All pretended revelations after we reach the final 
amen of this book are counterfeit and of the devil, and 
are not to be heeded. This book closes the revelation 
which God gave to his Son Jesus Christ, to show unto 
his servants the things that must come to pass from that 
day to the final winding up of the race, when the wicked 
are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and the 
children of God are safely housed in the holy city, 
where sorrow is no more. As the gospel is the power 
of God to save people ; and, according to Paul, not even 
the angels of God dare to preach any other gospel on 
pain of being accursed ; and as the Scriptures we now 
have are able to make one perfect and wise unto salva- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



225 



tion, no other revelation is needed. The man who wants 
some demon spirit sent back here from the spirit world 
to tell him what to do, should be answered as Dives 
was : " You have Moses and the prophets, and the gos- 
pel of Jesus Christ : hearken to them. If you will not 
listen to them, you would not listen to one from the 
dead." 

There are a few more words to follow from our 
blessed Lord, and then we will give a few reflections 
and close. " I Jesus have sent my angel to testify 
unto the churches these things. I am the root and off- 
spring of David, the bright and morning star. The 
Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that hears let 
him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come 
and take of the water of life freely. And I testify unto 
every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this 
book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add 
unto him the plagues which are written in this book: 
and if any man shall take away from the words of the 
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from 
the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are 
written in this book. He which testifies these things 
says, Surely I will come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord 
Jesus. The favor of the Lord Jesus be with all his 
saints. Amen" (verses 16-21). 

We are told here that the Lord sent his angel, or 
messenger, to " testify these things unto the churches." 
A question arises here as to why the Lord would have 
these things presented to the churches if they were all 
obscured by symbols which they could not understand. 
Of what benefit would it be to them to keep (rem em- 



226 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



her) " the words of the prophecy of the book/' as in 
verse 7, if they could not understand the meaning of 
the words ? That the churches could be blessed by them 
is a supposition absurd upon its face. To my mind, 
there is a special necessity for this revelation. We 
who are posted in the history of the church, from the 
day this revelation was given till now, know what a 
fearful ordeal it has passed through — how it has been 
assailed by foes from within and from without. The 
people of God have been given to torture; have been 
led to the rack, the stake, block and gibbet ; they have 
suffered confiscation of property, banishment, and death 
itself. Hence they needed to be told beforehand of the 
fiery trial that awaited them, so they would not think 
it strange when the fiery trial came upon them; but 
especially did they need the precious promises the Lord 
gives them so repeatedly in this book. 

What soul-cheering thoughts come to such as hear 
the Master say : " Fear not the things which you are 
about to suffer: the devil will cast some of you into 
prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have 
tribulation : ... be faithful unto death, and I will give 
you a crown of life " (Kev. ii. 10). 

" He that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the 
end, to him will I give authority over the nations : and 
he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the potter's 
vessel is broken to shivers; as I have received of my 
Father" (ii. 26, 27). 

"They shall walk with me in white: for they are 
worthy. . . . And I will not blot his name from the book 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



227 



of life ; but I will confess his name before my Father, 
and before his angels" (iii. 4, 5). 

" He that overcomes shall sit with me in my throne, 
as I have overcome, and have sat down with my Father 
in his throne" (iii. 21). 

" These are they who have come out of great tribu- 
lation, and have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are 
before the throne of God, and they serve him day and 
night in his temple ; and he that sits upon the throne 
shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hun- 
ger no more, nor thirst ; neither shall the sun strike 
upon them, nor any heat : for the Lamb who is in the 
midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall 
guide them unto the waters of the fountain of life; 
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes 99 
(vii. 14-17). 

" Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord 
from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
rest from their labour ; and their works do follow them 99 
(xiv. 13). 

We have also the very precious promise of chapter 
xx. 4-6 ; and, in addition to all the glorious promises, 
John is permitted to hear from beyond the veil the 
shouts of victory, and the songs of rejoicing that ere 
long will make the welkin ring by the redeemed mar- 
tyrs after they shall have reached the other shore. What 
a glorious day that will be when he who makes him- 
self pure and holy here will remain pure and holy there, 
and enjoy the presence of God and the Lamb, and all 



228 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



the holy of heaven and the redeemed and holy of earth, 
for ever and ever. 



I will now devote a chapter to the Roman Catholics, 
who think they are honoring God and Christ in their 
adherence to their chosen faith. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



A FRIENDLY ADDRESS TO ROMAN CATHOLICS. 

I wish to call the especial attention of the Pope of 
Rome, and the cardinals, archbishops, priests, and all 
orders of the Roman Catholic Church, to the contents 
of this chapter, and your serious attention to some facts 
in connection with your religion which yon receive by 
authority from the Vatican. In doing so I shall avoid 
the language of reproach and bitter invective indulged 
in by many who assail your doctrines ; and trust that 
what I may say shall appeal to your sound sense, as I 
shall rely upon God's word upon one side, and your ac- 
knowledged history, known and read of all men, upon 
the other. 

You know very well that your church as it is or- 
ganized to-day, with all its ecclesiastical machinery, did 
not exist in the days of the apostles of Christ, You 
had then no popes, no cardinals, no archbishops, no 
monks of different orders, no celibate priests, no nuns, 
no friars, and no J esuits. These orders, as you all know, 
are not mentioned' in the Scriptures, nor did they exist 
in history for the first three hundred years after Christ. 
I know you claim in your traditions that your popes 
existed prior to. this, but this is only tradition; there 
is no authentic history that supports this claim. 

It is admitted by all Christians — Catholics and 
Protestants — that the Scriptures, when properly inter- 
preted, are a divine guide to the portals of glory. The 



230 



THE "WONDERS OF THE 



trouble, then, between the warring factions of Chris- 
tianity is not in the Scriptures, that God has given by 
inspiration, but in the opinions of men about what is 
their proper interpretation. The Catholic Church, you 
know, assumes that the Pope of Rome, and those ac- 
knowledged by him for that purpose, are the only di- 
vinely authorized interpreters of the Scriptures, and 
that by and through them all the world should receive 
the light of salvation. Protestants of every form deny 
these assumptions; but, while they deny these assump- 
tions to Rome, they each in turn claim that they only 
interpret God's word correctly. This leads to confusion, 
and gives us as many different interpretations of God's 
word as there are sects in Christendom. 

Here you Catholics take your stand, and point to 
the divisions among Protestants (grouping them all to- 
gether) as evidence that they do not interpret God's 
word properly, else there would be no divisions among 
them ; and with pride you point to your colossal struc- 
ture as a unit, because you receive all your doctrines 
through the Pope, and such ecumenical councils as the 
Pope sanctions as authoritative. 

This position of your church is hardly fair, because 
it igonres all the divisions, contentions and troubles that 
have arisen in the Catholic Church for the last thousand 
or more years, out of which the Catholic Church of to- 
day has emerged. You are well aware of the split be- 
tween the Latin and Greek Churches, which occurred 
between the days of Constantino the Great and the cap- 
ture of Constantinople by the Turks, and how you had 
the Greek Church under your control at least half the 



EEVELATIOH OF JESUS CHRIST. 2B1 



time, driven about Dy every wma of doctrine, as it was 
manipulated by the popes of Eome or the whims of 
the ruling emperors or empresses at Constantinople. You 
remember, also, that during the long reigns of the em- 
presses Pulcheria, Irene and Theodora, monasticism, and 
the invocation of dead saints, the adoration of relics 
and the worship of images, was the ruling superstition 
of the hour at Constantinople as well as at Rome. 

You are well aware of the fact, too, that the doc- 
trine of Arius, in this same period, prevailed extensive- 
ly in the East and in the ^sorth, and even in Spain 
and Africa, and that this caused numberless splits and 
divisions in the church until the Saracens overran those 
countries and planted the standard of Mahomet in Per- 
sia, Syria, Egypt, north Africa and Spain. 

Then, again, your army of monks have divided and 
subdivided, split up and rent the Catholic Church into 
fragments time and again. Whenever a split occurred 
among them, the pope generally undertook to suppress 
one of the divisions ; but, if threats and Papal bulls and 
other forcible means proved inadequate, he generally 
changed tactics and granted the refractory party all 
they asked, hugging them up in the Catholic fold, pro- 
vided they would concede the supremacy of the pope. 

St. Anthony, as is well known, was the founder of 
monasticism in Egypt, about A. D. 330. Then they be- 
gan dividing up into sects ; viz. : the Carmelite monks, 
the Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Celestines, 
the Medicants, the Cluniacs, Cysterines, Premontres, the 
Guelphs and Ghibellines, and others too tedious to men- 
tion, which all arose in divisions. But all these di- 



THE WOJSTDEES OF THE 



visions, except some of the earliest, acknowledged the 
supremacy of the pope, and drew their support from 
the church treasury at Rome. So numerous had these 
divisions become, that in the Lateran Council of A. D. 
1115 a decree was passed by the advice of Pope Innocent 
III. to prevent the further introduction of new religions, 
by which was meant new monastic orders. Then, there 
were two divisions differing on the immaculate concep- 
tion of the Virgin Mary; two divisions differing on 
the Lord's presence in the eucharist; two sects differ- 
ing on the single and double nature of Christ. 

The union of the Latin Church under one head 
was destroyed upon the death of Gregory XL, which 
was followed by that great dissension known as " The 
Great Western Schism." This dissension rose to such 
a pitch that for fifty years the church had two, and 
sometimes three, popes at the same time, these contend- 
ing popes forming plots and thundering out anathemas 
against each other. The clergy were at war over the 
question as to which of the popes was the true succes- 
sor of Peter. Kings, princes, bishops and divines took 
an active part in this salutary contest, and generally 
decided that the best way out of the muddle was what 
they called "method of cession" ; but neither of the popes 
could be prevailed upon by entreaty or threats to give 
up the pontificate. At this the Gallican Church became 
highly incensed at their obstinacy, and solemnly re- 
nounced all subjection and obedience to both pontiffs 
in a council at Paris in 1397. In the execution of this 
decree, Pope Benedict was shut up as a prisoner in his 
palace at Avignon by Charles VI. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CUEIST. 



233 



In the beginning of the fourteenth century a terri- 
ble feud arose among the monks who claimed St. Fran- 
cis as the founder of their sect. The Pope had given 
orders that they might own property and work (they 
had before this been a poverty sect, living upon alms 
and the revenues of the church). This order caused a 
division among them, part siding with the Pope and 
part antagonizing his order. This antipope party went 
to great extremes, and set the Pope's authority at 
naught ; even called him antichrist. This so worried 
Pope John XXIII. that when he found moral suasion 
at an end, he had recourse to his papal thunder — pro- 
nounced them heretics and schismatics, and undertook 
to suppress them by fire and sword, so that great num- 
bers of these Franciscan friars were burned at the stake 
in Spain and France. Emperor Louis of Germany 
adopted their views and protected them in his domin- 
ions while he lived, but upon his death Charles IV. took 
the throne and the side of the Pope, so that fire and 
sword in the hands of the Pope's inquisitors extermi- 
nated them in Germany by thousands. I would not 
mention these things were it not that the canonical laws 
of Rome grant the pope power to suppress heresy by 
the sword; hence such things are legitimate according 
to the doctrines of your church. 

In 1431 the great Council of Pavia, Siena and BaGel 
was called, and, among other business, began to set 
bounds to the powers of the Pope. This alarmed Pope 
Eugenius, so that he attempted twice to dissolve this 
assembly ; but the council considered its authority above 
that of the Pope, and continued to sit. This council 



234 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



summoned the Pope to appear before it at Basel; but, 
instead of complying, Eugenius issued a decree dis- 
solving the council and calling another at Eerrara. This 
decree was treated with contempt by the Council of 
Basel, which continued to sit and do business. In 1438, 
as soon as Eugenius opened his council at Eerrara, he 
had it thunder forth an excommunication against the 
fathers at Basel. This irritated that council, who, in 
turn, on June 27, 1439, deposed the Pope. This kin- 
dled the ire of this lordly prelate, who in his wrath 
thundered forth hell and damnation against the mem- 
bers of this obnoxious council, and declared all their 
acts null and void. This new peal of papal thunder was 
held in derision by the Council at Basel, which then 
elected another pope in his stead, known in the list of 
popes as Eelix V. This revived the former schism, and 
gave two popes at the same time. 

Pope Eugenius, being thus opposed in the north- 
west, sought strength by trying to effect a reconciliation 
between the Greek and Latin Churches, and partially 
succeeded. The Greek Church, having outlived its use- 
fulness, surrendered its remaining dignity, and what 
little gospel it had left, and turned to the worship of 
images and relics, thus filling up the cup of its iniquity. 
The result was that God soon thereafter gave its seat 
of empire over to the Turks. 

About 1535 came on the rupture between Henry 
VIII. of England and the Pope of Borne that led to 
the separation of the Catholic Church of England from 
the communion of Borne. After various fruitless ef- 
forts at reconciliation, and the roar of much papal 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



235 



thunder, the Church of England came forth from the 
wreck in 1564. Although the Church of England took 
its separate existence, yet it was evident that had it still 
acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope it would have 
remained Catholic to this day. Other aberrations in the 
ritual of its worship could and would have been bridged 
over. And the same would have been true of one-half 
of the Protestant denominations. .The recent overtures 
of the Church of England to be received back into the 
Catholic communion, with the Pope's answer, proves 
this to be true. 

In fact, take the history of the Catholic Church in 
the fourteenth century, and it presents a confused scram- 
ble among the different sects — of which the church was 
composed in this century — for the mastery, and the re- 
sort, by the popes on one side and the different orders 
of the monks on the other, to the basest and most ques- 
tionable means, not excepting death and confiscation, 
to acquire that mastery. 

So the boasted unity of faith in the Catholic Church 
of to-day comes with poor grace from those of them 
who know their church history. Consider the thousands, 
yea, millions, of professed Christians who have been ex- 
terminated by this church to maintain its boasted unity, 
while it held the civil powers by the throat and pushed 
the rack, the fagot and the sword in the hands of its 
inquisitors, its puppets of vengeance. All her different 
orders of monks, friars, Jesuits, etc., are but so many 
divisions or schisms within her communion, and her 
boasted unity is simply a conglomerated mass of dis- 
united materials forced into a compact mass by her cen- 



236 



THE WOXDERS OF THE 



ter of gravity — the supremacy oe the Pope of Rome. 
In fact, Protestantism is as much of a unit to-day if we 
take their unit of cohesion, Cheist, the supreme direc- 
tor of their faith. Contrast this with the supremacy of 
the popes and their unity, and the unity of the Prot- 
estant churches, as a whole, discounts that of Eome. 

In addition to the divisions in your church, you 
have introduced a great number of religious practices 
and doctrines for which you have no divine warrant in 
the Xew Testament Scriptures, such as the infallibility 
of the pope, the saying of mass, the sprinkling of holy 
water, auricular confession, indulgences, the worship- 
ing of relics and images, the invocation of saints, the 
worship of the Virgin Mary, prayers for the dead, the 
transubstantiation of the bread and wine in the eucha- 
rist, the adoration of the cross, and the substitution "of 
aspersion for baptism. These things, you know, are not 
mentioned in the Scriptures. The reason you assign for 
these innovations is that the church has power to intro- 
duce new doctrine, or change, alter or amend any of the 
existing doctrines of the church ; but you ought to know 
that, in the exercise of this claimed infallible power, 
your popes and councils have frequently enacted cer- 
tain dogmas and denounced certain things as heresies 
that subsequent councils and popes have reversed and 
abrogated. Then, you have had two different councils 
and two different popes at the same time. These two 
different councils and popes thundered their anathemas 
and excommunications at each other with a vengeance 
unparalleled in the history of any other church. The 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



237 



question for you to settle is, Which one of these con- 
tending factions was the infallible one I This ques- 
tion your church was not able to settle then, and it has 
never been settled since; though it destroys your doc- 
trine of infallible unity. 

But the precedent of this claimed authority to alter 
or amend the requirements of God is a dangerous one, 
and expressly antagonizes Scripture teaching. The 
Pharisees tried this till they made void the command- 
ments of God by their traditions ; and it is a fact that 
the traditions of your church do the same thing. God 
commanded : " You shall not make unto you any graven 
image, or any likeness of anything in heaven or on 
earth, or that is in the waters under the earth, to bow 
down to them or serve them'' (Ex. xx. 4, 5). In the 
face of this, the second Council of Xice, in 780, decreed 
that " the worship of images is agreeable to Scripture 
and reason, and to the fathers and councils of the 
church" (Gibbon, Vol. V., p. 37). Not only have you 
thus made void the command of God, but you have 
made thousands and multiplied thousands of images of 
the pretended likeness of Christ, and of the Virgin 
Mary, and of other saints, and you have these abomi- 
nations in all your churches, monasteries and convents, 
and in many private houses, where they are bowed down 
to and worshiped as living realities, with power to 
grant the petitions presented to them. 

Again, you know very well — or, if you do not, you 
ought to — that the Lord Jesus said, a \Vhen you pray, 
say, our Father, who art in heaven," etc. And when 
the apostles prayed they prayed unto God. (Acts iv. 24.) 



238 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



"As I live, says God, every knee shall bow to me, and 
every tongue shall confess to God " (Rom. xiv. 11). And 
in Ephesians iii. 14, 15, Paul said: "I bow my knees 
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Even the 
angel that personified the Lord Jesus refused to let 
John worship him, and commanded him to worship 
God. (Rev. xix. 10.) But, in the face of all this Scrip- 
ture to the contrary, you teach the worship of dead 
saints, by praying unto them. There is no mistake 
about this; I have before me "The Key of Heaven," 
compiled by the cardinal archbishop of New York, 1868. 
On pages 73 to 75 is a prayer called "The Litany to the 
Saints," wherein Mary, mother of God, is addressed, and 
St. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and all the holy angels 
and archangels, and all the holy orders of blessed spirits, 
patriarchs and apostles, and the names of forty-five dead 
saints are named, and all are asked to pray for us. The 
only instance of prayer to the dead that I have noticed 
in the Scriptures is recorded in Luke xvi. 27, where the 
rich man in hades prays to Abraham to send Lazarus to 
his five brethren to warn them, etc., but this request was 
not granted. 

Waiving minor matters for the present, by your per- 
mission, I will inquire into the pope's authority for his 
lordly pretensions as Christ's vicar on earth. You 
know the foundation upon which the popes' assumptions 
are based. It is claimed by them that they are the 
successors of St. Peter, and that Christ built his church 
upon St. Peter "as the rock" (Matt. xvi. 18). Celes- 
tine was the first pope who interpreted the "rock " in the 
above passage to be Peter the apostle; even Hilary, 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



239 



Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine and Pope Innocent I. ail 
interpreted it to mean the confession Peter had made. 
(Kurtz's "Church History," Vol. L, p. 269.) 

It is claimed, further, that this passage constitutes 
Peter the rock, to whom He would give the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven, and that " whatsoever he should 
bind on earth should be bound in heaven," etc. (verse 
19). Had this passage meant what Catholics claim, 
which it does not, there is no hint in this language of 
Christ that he intended to confer this power upon any 
other person than Peter. And if we examine the after 
history of Peter as recorded in the Scriptures, he never 
exercised or claimed any such lordly rule over the world 
as the pope claims, and it is quite certain that Paul ex- 
ercised more authority over the Gentile churches in 
the bounds of his ministry than Peter ever did ; in fact, 
Paul contrasts his mission to the Gentiles with that of 
Peter to the Jews in such a way as to justify the con- 
clusion that he was the superior to Peter among the 
Gentiles. (See Gal. ii. 1.) 

If Peter had any pre-eminence over the other eleven 
apostles (and I think he had), that pre-eminence was 
mostly, if not wholly, among the Jews. More than 
this, we have two epistles of Peter on record in the New 
Testament, and there is not a hint in either of them 
that- he was to have, or did have, any civil power to 
rule or govern anything outside the church, or any 
power within more than the other apostles. And, so 
far from lording it over kings and rulers, he taught 
complete subjection to the civil .rulers. He says : " Be 
subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake : 



240 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



whether it be to the king, as supreme ; or unto govern- 
ors, sent by him for the execution of wrath upon evil- 
doers, and to the praise of them who do well, because 
in well-doing you can put to silence the ignorance of 
foolish men " (I.. Pet. ii. 13, 14). So it is morally cer- 
tain that Peter never preached or exercised the power 
and jurisdiction claimed by the popes. 

Then, again, it is claimed Peter was bishop of the 
church at Pome ; but this is all mere assertion. There 
is no such a fact recorded in history, and there never 
was any tradition to that effect for the first five hundred 
years of the Christian era ; but there is a tradition that 
Peter suffered martyrdom at Pome under Nero, which 
is probably true. 

Moreover, it is not recorded of the bishop of Pome 
that he presided at any one of the first five general 
councils, or that Pome was more than faintly repre- 
sented at all. And it is certain that the leading bishops 
of Pome, Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Niconiedia 
and Constantinople each exercised no jurisdiction over 
any churches except those near by those metropolitan 
cities, and that this jurisdiction was at first only ad- 
visory, and had no regularly defined bounds. Under 
the reign of Constantine the Great these bishops be- 
gan to spread their jurisdiction so as to interfere with 
each other, and began to make trouble. This called 
for a definition of boundaries, and the first Council of 
Nice, if I remember aright, began to define the boun- 
daries of these bishops. The first bishop that attempted 
to spread his jurisdiction beyond the bounds of his dio- 
cese was Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, and he 



KEVELATIOIS" OF JESUS CUEIST. 



241 



reasoned that as the emperor had the civil jurisdiction 
of those countries, so he had a right to the ecclesiastical 
rule. But this right was denied by the other bishops, 
and especially by the bishop of Home ; not because it 
interfered with his jurisdiction, but because he claimed 
it was contrary to the genius of Christianity. The em- 
peror alone exercised the right of appointing, in some 
cases, the chief bishop in those cities, and occasionally 
also deposed one. It was seldom that a pope was ap- 
pointed in Rome without the consent of the emperors, 
from A. D. 400 down to A. D. TOO. 



Another thing is an admitted fact, 'that the re- 
strictions now thrown around the choice of a pope, and 
the manner of his choice and by whom chosen, is a mat- 
ter of very recent date. Your conclave of cardinals 
Avho now choose the pope was unknown seven hundred 
years ago, and the selecting of the pope from among 
the cardinals was unknown six hundred years ago. That 
he should be born in Italy, and of Italian stock, as now, 
was unknown five hundred years ago, and that he was 
infallible was unknown till 1870. You know that in the 
fourteenth century Frenchmen were eligible to that 
office, and filled it for about seventy-five years, during 
which time they resided at Avignon in France. You 
know, further, that prior to the fourteenth century they 
were chosen in every conceivable way : sometimes by the 
sovereign power, and sometimes by the populace ; some- 
times by the bishops, and sometimes by councils. And 
you ought to know that the selection, as now, from Ital- 
ian blood is a gross wrong, unjust toward persons of 



242 



THE WONDEKS OF THE 



other nationalities who are, or may be, more worthy 
than any cardinal of Italian blood. 

Take the horrible picture of your Italian popes in 
the tenth century. Eecall the manner of their choice, 
and their conduct, and hell itself can hardly equal the 
corruption connected with the scramble for that high 
office. - Mosheim says of them in his " History of the 
Church/' Part II., Ch. ii., Sec. 2 : " The history of the 
popes who lived in this century is a history of so many 
monsters, and not of men, and exhibits a horrible series 
of the most flagitious, tremendous and complicated 
crimes, as all writers — even those of the Roman com- 
munion — unanimously confess." In this list of thirty- 
one popes who occupied the pontifical throne, all except 
three were of the birth and blood of Italy, and in these 
occupants of the papal chair we find as horrible a set of 
monsters as ever lived. In this century we have the 
first inkling of the claim of the popes to the universal 
dominion of the world. It is perhaps commendable in 
such monsters to press their claim to the universal do- 
minion of the world, when they could not even en- 
force peace or righteousness in the city of Eome itself. 

But why shoul the selection of the popes be confined 
to the monks and cardinals of Italy? Is there any 
purer blood in their veius than in the nations to the 
north of Italy, from whence its composite blood was 
derived ? Does not Paul say that " God has made of 
one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face 
of the earth " (Acts xvii. 26) ? And, again, " For as 
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have 
put on Christ. Therefore there is neither Jew nor 



REVELATION" OE JESUS CHEIST. 



213 



Greek, bond nor free, male nor female; but you are 
all one in Christ J esus. And if so, then you are Abra- 
ham's seed [posterity], and heirs according to the prom- 
ise " (Gal. iii. 27-29). Then this distinct partiality in 
favor of the soil and blood of Italy is manifestly wrong, 
and contrary to Scripture ; that is, if the pope's rule 
were of God. If it be a pure human invention, which 
it certainly is, and a mere gratification of worldly am- 
bition, then I suppose the Italians are not so much to 
blame, if the rest of the world are fools enough to pour 
out their revenues and emoluments to enrich the pride 
and arrogance of Italy. However, any one can see that 
it is a manifest injustice to other equally gifted and 
righteous men born in other countries, provided it is 
necessary that gifted and righteous men shall occupy the 
papal throne. 

Again, you claim that Peter was the spiritual pro- 
genitor of the popes. Supposing this was so, then I 
would ask you, Was Peter of Italian blood or birth % 
!N"o, you know he was not ; nor was he chosen by a con- 
clave of cardinals, nor in any other way employed in 
selecting a pope, since that potentate existed. 

One other thing : there never Avas any officer in the 
church of God, either Jewish or Christian, who was 
clothed with one-half the power that the popes of Rome 
claim. God selected !N~oah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, 
Samuel, David, and all the prophets, for their missions. 
~Nor is there any higher appointment authorized of God 
or Christ in the church since the days of the apostles 
than that of II. Timothy ii. 2 ; that is, '"'Commit to 
faithful men, who shall he able to teach others also, 



214 



THE WONDERS OE THE 



the tilings you have learned of me." If one-half the 
popes have been bad men, as all must admit they have, 
then they have not been the faithful men to whom the 
gospel has been committed, nor have these bad popes 
been competent to transmit any power from God to men, 
for they have had no such power from God, any more 
than Judas Iscariot had. It is manifest, therefore, that 
no such power as is claimed by the popes was ever 
learned from Paul or Peter, or any other apostle, and 
they therefore do not come within the scope of the suc- 
cession of II. Timothy ii. 2. 

I would like, therefore, to ask you who belong to the 
Catholic communion — who desire to reach heaven — 
what obligations are you under to the pope of Rome for 
your salvation ? Do you not know that there were thou- 
sands, and multiplied thousands, in J udea, Samaria and 
Syria who were saved, and perfectly saved, by the gos- 
pel before there ever was a church at Rome, and hun- 
dreds of years before the first man who wore the name 
of pope was born ? 

More than this, we have the last words of the Lord 
Jesus Christ to the seven churches of Asia, in which 
he gives his followers various reproofs, admonitions and 
promises, but never a word to one of them to look to the 
Holy Father of the See of Rome for either spiritual 
or civil direction in any matters whatsoever. He does 
not even mention the Church of Rome, nor its bishop. 
You ought to know that both God and Christ foreknew 
all about this papal dominion when John penned this 
admonition to the seven churches, and if God had de- 
signed to sanction these lordly pretensions of the popes 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



245 



of Rome, it is reasonable to think that he would some- 
where have said so. Just a few lines from the Lord 
would have sufficed to place his throne above the stars. 
Moreover, this would have saved the lives of thousands, 
yea, of millions, of fellow Christians whose blood has 
been shed to establish the supremacy of the popes of 
Rome. In fact, you know that this one dogma (the 
supremacy of the pope) has given your church more 
trouble than any other one thing; and you know that 
it is to-day a festering canker in the heart of the Pope 
and his lordly prelates, who are wailing over the lost 
jurisdiction and civil rule of the Pope. 

Again, there is just as much authority in the Scrip- 
tures, and out of them, for the supreme rule of the Ma- 
hometan faith as there is for Catholic rule. You, as 
you claim, had possession of all Syria, Arabia, Persia, 
Egypt, north Africa, Spain, etc., from the beginning of 
Christianity to A. D. 630. You occupied the land and 
had it all your own way from A. D. 320 to 630, save 
only the internal feuds, bickerings, jealousies and re- 
ligious wars which you carried on among yourselves. 
The land also swarmed with monks, nuns and monaster- 
ies, and the relics of dead saints and images and pictures 
which you worshiped. You had also begun to invoke the 
dead saints quite extensively. In fact, you were as de- 
vout in the worship of these things — and, I may add, 
as sincere — as were the worshipers of Baal on Mount 
Carmel in the days of Elijah. But, notwithstanding 
all your devotion and sincerity, God, in a very short 
space of time, gave your churches and the land into the 



246 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



hand of the Mahometans, before whom even Italy and 
Rome trembled. 

It does no good to try to evade the force of these cir- 
cumstances. The unalterable truth remains that your 
pretended worship of God, and your feeble, or, rather, 
abandoned, reverence for the principles of righteous- 
ness taught in the gospel, were so averse to the will of 
God that he gave you over into the hands of your ene- 
mies. Had you been faithful to the Lord and kept the 
word of his patience, as did the church at Philadel- 
phia (see Rev. iii. 10), the Lord could and would have 
kept you from the hour of temptation, as he did them. 
The fact that God permitted or caused these troubles 
to befall the church must be taken as evidence that you 
had so far departed from the simplicity of the gospel 
as to justify your overthrow. In fact, the Mahometans 
were far more tolerant toward the true Christians that 
fell into their power than were the warring factions of 
the church toward one another. Moreover, as soon as 
Catholicism had acquired the complete control of the 
Greek Church at Constantinople, and had firmly intro- 
duced the worship of relics and images therein, God 
gave it into the hands of the Turks, who hold dominion 
over it to this day. 

About the beginning of the fifth century the Roman 
Catholic Church stained its hands in the persecution 
of the Donatists in Africa, many thousands of whom 
suffered death at your hands; and ere you had com- 
pleted your bloody conquest, God gave your ill-gotten 
dominion over to Genseric, the Vandal conqueror, as 
you called him. Under his rule the Donatists fared far 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHEIST. 



247 



better than under your rule. Genseric even took and 
pillaged Eome itself. It is true the Catholics com- 
plained bitterly of the treatment they received at his 
hands, and at the hands of Huneric, his son and succes- 
sor; but they claimed, and with good reason, too, that 
they were only paying the Catholics back in their own 
coin for their abuse of the Donatists and the followers 
of Arius. About this time, too (the beginning of the- 
fifth century), the Goths, Suevi, Heruli, Vandals and 
Burgundians, who were tinctured slightly with the doc- 
trine of Arius, were gradually overturning the western 
Eoman Empire, in which the Catholic element was con- 
tinually worsted. All these troubles which came upon 
the church in those times, including a large dismem- 
berment of Italy by the Lombards, and later on by the 
Xormans, can not be accounted for otherwise than by 
the aversion God had for your conduct and form of 
worship. 

Xor can we close this chapter here. You know 
your church, engineered by the popes, in the twelfth 
and thirteenth centuries drew the sword to wrest Jeru- 
salem and Palestine from the Mahometans. These same 
popes, though infallible, as you believe, utterly failed, 
after the loss of millions of blood and treasure, and left 
the land of Palestine in the peaceable possession of the 
Turks. 

You know, too, that in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries your popes and church determined to over- 
ride all opposition to the supremacy of the popes, and to 
this end employed the Inquisition to ferret out, and 
punish with the rack, fagot, confiscation and death, all 



248 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



opponents. So bloody had this work become, and so odi- 
ous was the sale of indulgences, that all the better feel- 
ing of humanity revolted at the horrible spectacle. When 
these things were at the zenith of their glory — if there 
could be glory in shame — God stirred up Martin Lu- 
ther, who came to the front with his ninety-five theses 
in 1527. The sound of Luther's hammer with which 
he nailed his theses to the walls of Witten- 
berg was heard throughout the Roman Catho- 
lic world, and sounded louder than all the bulls 
the Pope hurled against Luther. Then began the dis- 
memberment of the Pope's imperial power. England 
denied to the Pope his civil and ecclesiastical powei 
over England. Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Sweden, 
Denmark and Holland soon followed. By the year 
1870, before the Pope's infallibility was proclaimed, 
every Catholic country on earth had repudiated the 
Pope's civil jurisdiction ; even Catholic Italy, the jSTestor 
of Catholicism, wheeled out of line. To-day there is no 
Catholic nation on earth so ignorant or so enslaved 
as to do him homage in civil rule. 

On the 24th of August, 1572, Rome exhibited her- 
self in all her naked ugliness, by the sanction of one of 
the most atrocious massacres ever perpetrated in any 
civilized nation on earth. Planned by the Jesuits and 
carried out by the Catholic priests, the accomplishment 
of this infamy brought rejoicing to the Pope and his 
cardinals. When the news reached Rome that seventy- 
two thousand Protestants had been butchered, in France, 
in cold blood, and without a moment's warning, the 
church bells rang merrily, and the hellish deed was eel- 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



21-9 



ebrated with bonfires at night and other demonstra- 
tions of joy. Men, women, children and innocent babes 
shared the same fate, and the streets of Paris were red 
with blood. 

These are historic facts: and now I would like to 
know if there is an honest Catholic on earth to-day, 
who estimates the salvation of his soul at the value of 
a fig, that can or will sanction such an abomination ? 
Can a person in high authority, pretending to do busi- 
ness for the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth, can he 
sanction this in the sight of Him who said, " Love your 
enemies, and do good to them who hate you, and pray 
for them who despitefully use you and evil entreat 
you " ? I know Catholics try to evade the force of these 
things, and shift the responsibility by saying it was 
"the spirit of the age," and that the civil powers did 
it, etc. The spirit of the age, you should remember, is 
naught but the spirit that the papal power had engen- 
dered and instilled and cultivated in these people for 
the last thousand years, of which this Bartholomew's 
affair is the legitimate outcome. This is a weak and ly- 
ing subterfuge. Had the Pope and his high officials 
desired to put a stop to these things, their power over the 
civil governments where they ruled was such that they 
could have prevented the butchery of fellow Christians 
had they so desired. The rule was for the pope or the 
church to excommunicate the so-called heretics, consign 
them to eternal damnation, and then turn them over 
to the civil powers to do the rest. Were there but a 
few of these atrocious deeds, and they far between, they 
might be overlooked ; but when the thing was continued 



250 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



on a large scale year in and year out, and century after 
century, with no rebuke from Rome, we are forced to 
conclude that it all was done at the instance of the popes 
of Rome. 

The Jesuits, who planned and instigated St. Barthol- 
omew's massacre, had at this time become busybodies 
in all the civil governments which tolerated them. They 
planned the destruction of Joseph, king of Portugal, 
who made a narrow escape from their snares. This 
led to an investigation of their conduct, and the prin- 
ciples that governed them. The result was that they 
were declared outlaws, and banished from his kingdom 
in 1759. In 1764 Trance expelled them, and sup- 
pressed their order. Xormandy and Bretagne followed 
soon after. At this the infallible Pope thundered one 
of his famous bulls against the governments that dared 
to suppress his favorite tools, and ordered their rein- 
statement; but Prance and Portugal treated his order 
with contempt. In 17 67 Spain banished them as a dan- 
gerous order, and confiscated their property in its king- 
dom and dependencies. At the same time Ferdinand 
banished them from Naples and Sicily. The Duke of 
Parma ordered them out of his dominions. At this 
Pope Clement XIII. thundered against them his in- 
fallible bulls, but they availed nothing. Seeing his au- 
thority was set at naught, he grieved his life away and 
died. His successor, Clement XVI., found it expedient 
to suppress the order in the fifth year of his pontificate. 
This pope declared it as his opinion that the order had 
outlived its usefulness, and, by their impropriety of con- 
duct, their loose casuistry, and their mischievous arts, had 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



251 



forfeited all claim to further encouragement. He there- 
fore issued a bull for their annihilation. Their colleges 
were seized and their property confiscated. After this 
another pope undertook to revive the order; but I am 
informed that there is not now a country on earth that 
tolerates them except the United States. They will 
probably try their hand to establish a reign of terror 
here, that will lead to their suppression. Thus the dis- 
integration of Rome goes on little by little by the force 
of truth, as the world becomes enlightened in regard 
to the great monstrosity. 

Now, to my mind, there can be no reason why Ro- 
man Catholicism has thus lost its civil rule except that 
its wicked abuse of its civil power in supporting and en- 
forcing its abominable religious practices by the sword 
was so offensive in the sight of God that God is lending a 
hand in its destruction. 



Suppose that we next inquire into the effect that 
your doctrine has upon the people who profess and 
.practice the same faith. You know that the popes of 
Rome, in the exercise of their civil jurisdiction over 
the world, in the fifteenth century granted unto Spain 
the right to colonize and control all South America, in- 
cluding Mexico and the West India isles ; and that, by 
virtue of this grant, Spain colonized with her Catholic 
subjects and took control of all these countries. By 
reason of these things, all those countries became Cath- 
olic, and have remained so to this day, being all the 
time continually under Catholic rule and Catholic teach- 
ing. So it is fair to assume that those countries ought 



252 



The wonders of the 



to give a just exhibition of the power of the Eoman 
Catholic religion to moralize, refine and educate their 
citizens. 

Another thing that will make this all the more forci- 
ble is the fact that it has ever been the policy of this 
church to keep her people in ignorance, both of the 
Bible and modern literature, so that her subjects would 
know nothing excejDt what they received from the Cath- 
olic priests, whom she schooled in her convents and sent 
among them for that purpose. Therefore, on the score 
of ignorance, those countries present to her all her 
heart's desire, a model of perfection. No other liter- 
ature, ancient or modern, ever entered this region ex- 
cept such as was furnished by authority of the Vati- 
can. 

How, then, stands the account ? Her colonies in 
South America, Mexico and the West Indies are in a 
deplorable condition when contrasted with the free, 
Protestant United States. Ignorance is at a premium. 
Not one in twenty can read and write, and the Scrip- 
tures are interdicted from circulation among them. Only 
within the last three years Bibles and Testaments sent 
into Venezuela by the American and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety were seized and burned by the Catholics, and the 
distributing agents were drummed out of the coun- 
try. More than this, their ignorance and superstition 
are easily excited ; hence all those Catholic countries are 
cursed with insurrections, rebellions, feuds and tur- 
moils almost continually. 

Comparatively few railroads, telegraphs, electric 
lights, colleges or schools of note exist among them. 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



253 



It is true here in the United States the Catholics have 
schools, and good ones, too, of their kind ; but certainly 
not as a matter of choice, but because they are forced 
into competition with the American free-school system. 
It has become a matter of necessity with them to have 
their own schools so they can train their sons and daugh- 
ters in the doctrine of Catholicism, and keep them 
away from the free schools and Protestant teaching, that 
they may receive their religious teaching from their 
priests, who are sworn to reverence the pope and obey 
his behests. 

And, notwithstanding all their efforts to keep their 
sons and daughters cooped up from contact with the 
enlightened influence of Protestants in these United 
States, still the incidental effect of Protestant civiliza- 
tion upon their subjects, resulting from mere contact 
and association, is so great that they are a hundred per 
cent, in advance of their subjects in South America, in 
arts, literature, morals and refinement. Did they de- 
sire their Catholic children in those benighted regions 
to receive an education, they could and would educate 
them in those countries where they have things all their 
own way. Take Italy as an example. It has been un- 
der Catholic control for more than a thousand years, 
yea, for near two thousand, let them tell it. It ought 
therefore by this time to be a perfect heaven in educa- 
tion, refinement and religion, if Catholicism is capable 
of making any country or people such. But how is the 
count ? Statistics show that there is only thirty per 
cent, that can read and write, and even the Pope him- 
self acknowledges that his Catholic subjects are an ig- 



254 



THE WONDERS OP THE 



norant, wicked and rebellious race of beings, who have 
despoiled him of civil power in Italy and have impris- 
oned him in the Vatican. So it is all mere bosh to look 
to Rome for advancement in education, religion or re- 
finement. 



It is perhaps best, while considering the claims of 
Roman Catholicism to the universal dominion of the 
world, to consider the claim that is sometimes urged in 
regard to the stone cut out of the mountain, that smote 
the image upon its feet, and destroyed it, and " became 
a great mountain and filled all the earth " (Dan. ii. 34, 
35). Catholics and some Protestants claim that this 
stone is Christianity, and that it began to smite imperial 
Rome upon its feet when it was divided. And it is 
claimed by Catholics that it was imperial Rome which 
went down before Christianity, and was superseded by 
the rule of the popes ; which rule and power was to be- 
come, and did become, a great mountain and fill all 
the earth. Protestants claim that it was pagan Rome 
that was ousted by Christianity when it struck it upon 
its feet. 

I can not adopt either of these theories. It is not 
true that Christianity destroyed imperial Rome. It is 
claimed by all the historians of the times that the bar- 
barians of the North overran and destroyed imperial 
Rome of the West, and that the Saracens and the Turks 
overran and destroyed the eastern part. And no one as- 
serts that Christianity did it. This disposes of the 
Catholic view. 



BE VIOLATION Otf .TESTIS CHRIST. 



255 



In regard to the Protestant view, it is not true ; be- 
cause the Christianity that did or could strike imperial 
Rome upon its feet, in its divided state, was terribly 
polluted with paganism itself, as witness its worship of 
relics, images, demons or dead saints to whom they were 
praying, and to or through which they hoped or expected 
salvation, temporal and eternal. ISFote, also, the adop- 
tion of feast clays and other superstitious notions of the 
heathen around them. It is true they pretended to be- 
lieve in Jesus, which the pagans did not ; but it is also 
true that in works they denied him. 

But this Protestant view does not fill the measure 
of the prophecy. The prophet states that " the stone 
that smote the image upon its feet broke up the iron, 
and clay, the brass, the silver and the gold together, 
which became like the chaff of the summer threshing- 
floor; that the wind carried them away so that no place 
was found for them." Now, no Protestant will have 
the cheek to claim that Christianity destroyed either 
these civil governments or the paganism that was in 
them. ~No, this will not do, because it does not meet 
the conditions of the prophecy ; Christianity has never 
done what the rjrophecy claimed for the stone. 

Again, the prophecy says the stone that smote the 
image " became a great mountain and filled the whole 
earth" (verse 35). It is proper here to say that the 
prophet never intended that the phrase cc the whole 
earth" should mean what we now understand by that ex- 
pression ; but the same as when he said, " the third [or 
brass] kingdom should bear rule over all the earth " 
(verse 39). It should have been translated "all the 



256 



TUB WONDERS OF THE 



land " ; evidently all the land that Nebuchadnezzar ruled 
over, or perhaps some more, as " all the earth " of verse 
39 has reference to the rule and kingdom of Alexander the 
Great, as all interpreters agree. With this meaning 
before us as to the extent of te all the earth " filled by 
the mountain stone, we are to understand all the land 
occupied by imperial Rome; all that Rome and the 
other three kingdoms had occupied when the stone smote 
it upon its feet. What power then struck the Roman 
Empire upon its feet that destroyed it and its power 
and authority over the territory of the other three king- 
doms (the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and the Mace- 
donian) % Does history inform us ? If so, then it is a 
matter of history, and can not be settled b) th* 3 imagi- 
nation. 

It is stated of this stone that it was cut out of a, 
mountain without hands. This must be significant of 
something; it is surely not an idle phrase thrown in 
here to fill up space. It must surely refer to some po- 
litical power that had no existence before it was 
cut out. And I would be very loth to say of Christi- 
anity that it ivas cut out without hands; for surely God 
and all the prophets had a hand in cutting it out. The 
construction would also indicate that as soon as it was 
cut out it got in motion to destroy this image. 

These things premised, I would again ask, What 
power struck the Roman Empire upon its feet, and over- 
ran all those countries ? Is it not a fact that Mahom- 
edsm did just what is predicated of the stone ? It rose 
up suddenly and began its destruction of the Roman 
Empire; and in the short space of ten years had taken, 



REVELATION" OF JESUS CHRIST. 



257 



overrun and conquered Persia, Babylon, Syria and 
Egypt, and thundered against the walls of Constanti- 
nople itself ; and within the next hundred years took all 
north Africa and Spain, and the city of Rome itself 
trembled at its presence. Eventually the same power 
took Constantinople and all Macedonia and Greece, and 
all the islands of the Greek archipelago, including Cy- 
prus. It was not a power that had previously been in 
hand by either God or man. So it is a fact that it took 
all the territory of these kingdoms, and ground their 
civil rule to powder, so there was not a vestige of them 
left. The lives of the people, however, were spared for 
a season and a time, and became engrafted into the 
stone, and helped to swell it into the size of the "great 
mountain." It is worthy of note here that the Mahom- 
etan power took away every vestige of the imperial 
power of the Roman Empire that existed when they 
came in collision with it ; the western part having come 
to an end prior to the rise of Mahomet. So the con- 
quest of the Mohometan power fills the measure ex- 
actly. 

Daniel says of the three first governments that " they 
had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were 
prolonged for a season and a time" (Dan. vii. 12). 
IsTow, it is a fact that Medo-Persia took away the do- 
minion of the Babylonian kingdom ; and that the Mace- 
donians took away the dominion of the Medo-Persian 
kingdom; and that Rome took away the dominion of 
the Macedonians; but it is a fact that all these king- 
doms continued to live on in a subordinate sense till 
the Saracens swept them all out of existence. 



258 



THE WONDERS OF THE 



Many have thought that because nearly the same 
kind of averments are made of God's kingdom in verse 
44 that is made in verses 45 and 34 and 35, that there- 
fore they are the same. But a little careful attention 
to those passages will dispel the illusion. The princi- 
pal predicates of verse 44 are the setting up of God's 
kingdom, and the time of its being set up. The third 
implied averment is that God's people are to possess his 
kingdom, which means primarily they are to possess it 
from the day of Pentecost till he comes again. The 
last averment of verse 44 is that it (God's king- 
dom) " shall break in pieces and consume all these 
kingdoms." The Septuagint says, " all other king- 
doms" but the equivalent of u other " is not in the 
Greek text of the Septuagint. It reads literally: 
" Shall break to pieces, and grind to powder all king- 
doms, and shall stand forever." This, as the reader will 
see, is something very different. The stone kingdom 
only consumes imperial Koine and its subordinate king- 
doms of Macedonia, Medo-Persia and Babylon, which 
are all broken together and carried away by the stone 
kingdom; while God's kingdom breaks to pieces and 
grinds to powder all kingdoms (of the world), as in 
Dan. vii. 13, 14. I think, therefore, that the Septua- 
gint is right, and that modern translators have been led 
astray by the thought that the stone kingdom and God's 
kingdom were the same, and therefore they have foisted 
the meaning of verse 35 into verse 44 without any jus- 
tifying reason. 

It is very evident, too, from Dan. vii. 13, 14 
and from Rev. xi. 15, that the time in which God's 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



259 



kingdom is to break in pieces and consume all king- 
doms is when he comes again, and is yet future ; where- 
as the time for the stone kingdom to strike the Eoman 
kingdom on its feet must be while the feet are in ex- 
istence, which existence could not begin before A. D. 
320, nor later than 1453, for this is the only period 
in which the Roman Empire existed in a divided state. 
There is therefore nothing in the second chapter of 
Daniel that supports any of the pretensions of Roman 
Catholicism. And what they seek to appropriate to 
themselves belongs to the Mahometan Empire'. You 
will notice, further, that it does not strike the iron 
kingdom upon its legs or ankles, but upon its feet, and 
at a time when the toes (the last extremity of the feet) 
are mixed with the clay, evidently the last existence 
of the iron kingdom. 

Now, if, as the Catholics claim, they are the peo- 
ple to whom the kingdom is given, how shall we un- 
derstand the declaration that "all dominions shall serve 
and obey him," when it is a fact that no kingdom on 
earth is now serving the Pope or his civil rule ? If the 
service now rendered by the kingdoms of the world fills 
the measure of the service and obedience to Christ con- 
templated in Dan. vii. 14, then I must confess that I 
have no just conception or appreciation of what con- 
stitutes service and obedience. The popes of Rome have 
often urged the civil powers which she controlled to 
draw the sword to sustain their supremacy, yet it is 
an eternal and unalterable truth in the spiritual reign 
of Christ that " he who takes the sword shall perish by 
the sword" (Matt. xxvi. 52). And "he that kills 



2G0 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



with the sword must be killed by the sword " (Rev. xiii. 
9). The probability is that Rome will yet make a 
desperate effort to regain her lost civil power, some- 
what akin to St. Bartholomew's massacre, and, if she 
does, the probability is that the civil powers will arise 
in the strength of Israel's God, and wipe the abomi- 
nation from the earth. Then will be verified the pre- 
diction that " in one day shall her plagues come, death, 
mourning, and famine ; and she shall be utterly burned 
with fire ; for strong is the Lord God who judges her." 

This will close my direct letters to the Catholics, 
which I hope they will carefully consider and come to 
the conclusion, to which every righteous man must 
come, that " he that will serve God must serve him in 
spirit and in truth." This being a fact, it is also a 
truth that we can not reach heaven by holding onto 
the Pope of Rome, or any other man, but must " work 
out our own salvation with fear and trembling." 



CLOSING EXHORTATION. 



That same God who, in the beginning of his reve- 
lation to man, disclosed to man his origin, has in th.3 
close of his revelation revealed to man his final destiny, 
in this communication to his beloved apostle John. And 
as there is no other name given among men whereby we 
3an be saved than the name of Jesus Christ, whom God 
has exalted and given a name above every other name ; 
and seeing he has anointed him to be a Prince and a 
Saviour, and promised him that in due course of time 
he would give him the kingdom of the world (predicted 
in Dan. vii. 13, 14, and to be realized as in Rev. xi. 
15) — we may naturally expect this last revelation of 
our God and his Father to be freighted with much of 
the scenes of his glory and power when he comes to btf 
installed Lord of lords and King; of kings, and to be 
admired in all them who believe in him, to whom the 
gospel of Jesus Christ has been felt to be God's power 
to save. To such the precious words of Jesus, " If I go 
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and re- 
ceive you unto myself ; that where I will be, there you 
may be also " (John xiv. 3), are intensely interesting. 

We therefore look forward with hope to the time 
when he will say, " Come, you blessed of my Father, 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
tion of the world." This will start the natural inquiry 
as to when the Lord will return to receive his people. I 
have thought much upon this theme, and have written 

261 



262 



THE WONDEES OF THE 



considerable in regard to it* both in this book and in my 
" Letters to the Jews and Gentiles/' and, at the risk of 
a little repetition, I will .again say that it must neces- 
sarily be in the near future. To this fact bear witness 
all the prophets who have spoken upon the subject. Of 
these, Daniel is one of the most noted. Paul comes 
next, then Peter and John, all of whose utterances are 
crowned by the declarations of the Lord Jesus himself. 

Daniel starts with the Babylonian kingdom, thence 
to the MedoPersian, followed by the Grecian and then 
by the Koman kingdom, out of which, near its close, 
comes forth a political ecclesiasticism " that dominates 
over and wears out the saints for a time, times, and a 
dividing of time," twelve hundred and sixty years, as it 
is supposed the symbol indicates. At the close of this 
time the judgment shall set in against the ecclesiastico- 
political power to take away its dominion and to consume 
and destroy it unto the end. Then the kingdom of the 
world is to revert to the Lord and his people, when 
the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven (Dan. vii. 13, 
14, 27). The reader will see by this that all four of 
those kingdoms have come and gone, and that the po- 
litical ecclesiasticism that was to follow and wear out 
the saints has had its rise and done its bloody work. 
The judgment has set in against it so that its political 
power has been taken away, and its ecclesiastical reign 
is tottering to its fall. The next great event that was to 
follow is the coming of the Son of man in the clouds 
of heaven. 

Paul is not quite so definite as to duration and 
time of this political ecclesiasticism, but he is just as 



REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 



263 



positive that it must come and do its direful work in the 
future of the time he wrote, and before the Lord would 
come; that the Lord would consume it with the spirit 
(inspiration) of his mouth, and "destroy it with the 
brightness of his coming." This accords exactly with 
Daniel, and leads on to the conclusion that the next 
great event is the coming of the Lord. 

Peter does not directly deal with this apostasy of 
Daniel and Paul, but he does show that there was to be a 
fearful apostasy in the latter days that would call in 
question the second return of our Lord, and he gives 
us clearly to understand that the present order of things 
is to continue till the Lord does come. This leads on to 
the conclusion that the next great event that is to oc- 
cur- is the coming of the Lord and the destruction of 
the wicked. 

John is very definite, when properly understood 
and concentrated. He gives us clearly to understand, 
(in Rev. xiii. and xvii.) that the great apostasy of Dan- 
iel and Paul must occur before the Lord comes, and 
that the next great event that is to follow the destruc- 
tion of the apostasy is the marriage supper of the Lamb 
of God, which can not occur till he comes again. Hence 
the next great event to which the people of this world 
must wake up is the return of our Lord, at which time 
all heaven will ring with the sound of great joy that 
the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of 
the Lord's Anointed. 

Header, are you ready for that hour? Have you 
lived so that from the depths of your inmost soul you 
can join with Jonn in saying: "Come, Lord Jesus, 



264 



THE WONDEKS OE THE 



come " ? If you are not prepared for this, you had 
better set about the preparation at once; for, as sure 
as the heavens and the earth exist by the power of 
God's word, so sure will the Lord come again to reckon 
with our race. And the condition of things in our 
world that was to immediately precede his coming is 
fast drawing to a close — is near our doors. 

The Lord Jesus is not definite in time, but he is 
definite in the order of events. " The wheat and the 
tares " must grow together in his kingdom till he comes 
— till he orders the tares gathered out. He also " went 
into a far country [into heaven], to receive for him- 
self a kingdom and to return." Prior to this he called 
his servants and committed to them his goods, com- 
manding them to occupy till he returned. This he did 
in Matt, xxviii. 18-20 : " Go ye, therefore, and teach 
all nations'' etc. It is very evident from these aver- 
ments that the Lord contemplated no change in his or- 
ders till he returned, and no material change in the 
morals of our race till he did return. 

To sum it all up, Daniel's forecast of events from 
his day till the Son of man should come in the clouds 
of heaven is about completed. Paul's intervening rea- 
sons as to why he could not soon come are already past 
— only the destruction of the apostate power when he 
did or should come. John's development of the apos- 
tasy is completed in history, all except its final doom; 
hence now, at almost any time, we may expect the air 
to resound with the cry, " Behold, He cometh ! Be- 
hold, He cometh ! !" Oh, for the Lord's sake, do let 
us believe in his return, and strive to make ourselves 



REVELATION OE JESUS CHRIST. 



205 



worthy of a place among the redeemed in Christ 
Jesus. 

I now close this volume with the earnest desire that 
it shall be acceptable in the sight of God, and that it 
will be productive of much good. May it strengthen 
the faith and love of the children of God, remove skep- 
ticism, humble the wise and self-righteous, exalt them 
of low degree, and be to the honor and glory of God. 
Amen. William Buble. 

Salem, Ore. 



Jan, 2 



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